‘Ugly’ phone boxes cluttering UK streets should be removed, think tank says | Telecoms industry

The new Labour government should remove “ugly” modern telephone boxes that clutter high streets and attract litter and graffiti, a leading think tank has said.

A report by Create Streets, founded by government adviser Nicholas Boys Smith, says phone boxes are no longer really necessary and are no longer a big feature on the streets of Paris or New York.

Unlike the classic red telephone booth, these kiosks are created and sponsored by telephone companies and are usually made of clear glass.

The report describes the battles between councils and large communications companies, which can cost councils tens of thousands of pounds to remove even a single phone box. The authors believe that legislative changes may be needed to give local authorities greater powers to ensure that removing the kiosks is easier and cheaper. Currently, companies that own the kiosks can claim tens of thousands of pounds in compensation for lost advertising revenue from the boxes. The report recommends changing the law so that councils are only compensated for the costs of removal.

Boys Smith said: “Blight is a menace that hides in plain sight, attracting litter, cluttering our pavements and making our streets and squares a little uglier and less pleasant. We don’t have to put up with it and we shouldn’t. Other countries don’t. Our paper sets out the practical steps the new government can take now to make our streets and town centres better and more prosperous.”

The report said calls from phone boxes had fallen by 99.5%, from 800 million minutes in 2002 to just 4 million in 2021-22, due to the ubiquity of mobile phones. It also found that more than half of phone boxes are likely to be “blighting” the UK’s streets. In a study of 64 phone boxes in central London, four had been refurbished, 27 were in poor external working order, 25 were not operational and 14 were both in poor condition and not operational. Only half were in good working order and more than 40% were not being used. If these figures are extrapolated to the 15,800 phone boxes in the UK, it suggests that around 6,300 of them are suffering from this “scourge”.

Alexander Jan, chairman of the Central District Alliance, a business support group, said: “London’s pavements (and those of other urban areas) are often littered with a multitude of half-derelict modern telephone boxes. They attract graffiti, litter, fly-tipping, drug use and worse. Councils and business improvement districts spend thousands of pounds a year looking after them. Shockingly, the only value they usually generate is advertising revenue for their owners.”

Create Streets said the government should amend the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to make it easier to remove phone boxes and should consult and draft new legislation to require communications equipment to be kept in good working order.

The report also says Historic England should list all remaining classic red telephone boxes and that these should be maintained in good condition as part of Britain’s heritage.