Market Drayton's little-used payphone could disappear
A Shropshire town could lose one of its last few public phone boxes and the public are urged to share their views.
Market Drayton is one of the towns affected by BT’s proposal to permanently remove 56 payphones from the county – they include one in Clifford Road and one at the junction of Shrewsbury Road and Clive Road, near the town’s Methodist church.
Shropshire Council has told the telephone company it wants the one at Clifford Road in the Dalelands area to stay, citing a “social need”.
On average the phone there is used 12 times a month. But the box near the Methodist church is only used three times a month, and could soon be gone forever.
Town mayor and county councillor Roy Aldcroft said that he would be sad to see the box go, but that it made sense for BT to consider the future of the little-used relics.
“I can understand why they need to do it – most people have got a mobile phone these days. But there are still the occasional times when people need the public telephones.
“They are a bit of history. You can remove the telephone and still use them – you can put defibrillators in them or, as some have done, you can use them as miniature libraries.”
BT’s consultation is running until November 11 and Shropshire Council wants anyone with views on the phone boxes to contribute by September 29, after which a provisional summary has to be sent to the Government.
The consultation also covers payphones at nearby Eaton upon Tern and near Stoke Heath prison.
To learn more and see the full list of payphones that are at risk, visit shropshire.gov.uk/shropshire-council/bt-payphones/.
To share your views on the threat to the payphones, email Lois Dale at lois.dale@shropshire.gov.uk.
