Will red phone boxes be saved

After BT decided the phone boxes were no longer profitable, they offered condolences and gave councils a choice. For 500 a year, nearly twice BT's maintenance cost, phone boxes could remain fully operational. Or, for novelty's sake, boxes could remain without a phone.

However, "BT cannot remove a payphone if there is not another facility within 400 metres without council consent, therefore those payphones objected to will remain in place. Therefore, it is the council that determines the results," a spokesman for the company said.

If the company deems objections to be unjustifiable it will appeal against them.

Local councillors have mixed feelings on the decision.

Rother member Martyn Forster of Sackville ward has accepted BT's decision to remove the phone box on Dorset Road. He said: "I guess people use mobile phones now and the usage does not justify keeping it." He believes its site is too dangerous as it is "next to one of the most dangerous and accident prone junctions in Bexhill."

Sackville ward has a large number of elderly residents. Cllr Deirdre Williams said: "The only lifeline they have, should their own phone be out of order, is 'the phone box'. Both boxes under threat are some distance from anywhere, and therefore I strongly object to the removal thereof."

For many, the red phone box is a symbol of national identity, as British as tea drinking and the Hackney Carriage. But it is also a necessity, albeit an unprofitable one as far as BT is concerned. Although more people now rely on mobile phones, often the times when they are needed the most are in areas with no signal. Phone boxes can always be counted on.

Cllr Joanne Gadd said: "The idea of removing the telephone box in Norman's Bay is absolutely ridiculous; many people have mobile phones but not everyone. Also the reception is not always good. The most important thing is how to contact the emergency services. It is most imperative to retain this telephone box and I feel sure we should fight the removal of this service."

In 2002 there were about 95,000 BT payphones across the country. 31,000 have been removed since then. Some that remain only accept credit cards as payment. In some cases, BT would make more money from phone boxes if councils chose to pay 500 annually for their maintenance. The company has said 60 per cent of phone boxes are unprofitable, with about 6000 only being used once a month.

Coastal Officer Steve Benn said: "It would be a shame to lose that British symbol and it seems to be another tradition that's disappearing."