SWLSphonebox – by Jack Warren and Faye Mayern
Villagers are ‘at war’ with BT to keep their last working red phone box – despite it only making nine calls a year.
Residents of Sharrington, Norfolk, are determined not to see the iconic red K6 disconnected and have even got their MP involved.
It was the first red telephone kiosk to be used extensively outside London and many thousands were installed.
BT wants to disconnect the box which is one of only a handful of its kind left in the county.
They say only nine people used it in 2024 with the most recent call made in December.
Locals, however, want to ensure the kiosk remains in the village and the phone inside keeps on working.
Derek Harris, who is leading the resistance to BT, said: “It’s a David and Goliath situation.
“It is a war between the village and BT and we are trying to enlist as much help as we can.
“We want this phone box to remain functioning.”
The 89-year-old, who has lived in the village for 50 years, added: “We are an elderly population who are not great with technology.
“Some of them do not have iPhones and I am not sure they even have land lines.”
Locals claim some elderly locals still rely on the box and because mobile phone coverage can be unreliable in north Norfolk, it is a useful lifeline for ramblers.
Many villages which have seen their phone boxes disconnected have kept them as mini-libraries and information centres or to house defibrillators.
BT have suggested that Sharrington could take on the empty kiosk – a classic K6, designed by renowned architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott – once they have removed the phone.
But Mr Harris said the village was determined to keep the phone too.
He added: “BT make enough money. They should maintain it and keep it functioning.
“They are relentless in their desire to remove this cherished part of village heritage.
“They are waging a war of attrition, and they have admitted that.
“They have even said if you succeed, we will come back again and again and again.
“We have got to shield it from bullying BT.”
Steffan Aquarone, the Lib Dem MP for North Norfolk, has come out in support of their campaign not just to ensure the kiosk remains in the village but that the phone inside keeps on working.
Under Ofcom rules, the company cannot remove a phone box if it is more than 400 metres from the next nearest and meets at least one of four criteria.
These include no mobile coverage in the area, high frequency of accidents or suicides nearby or that at least 52 calls are made each year.
A phone box also cannot be removed if there are exceptional circumstances that support the need for a phone, for instance that it is in an area at risk of sudden flooding.
The company believe the Sharrington kiosk does not meet any of these criteria, but Mr Harris insists the village’s elderly population and high numbers of ramblers mean it should be exempted.
The parish council is trying to get the kiosk listed status, to further protect it. They and Mr Aquarone have written to Historic England to request this.
BT made a previous attempt to remove the box in 2016, but this was seen off by locals.
A parish council spokeswoman said: “We want a functioning phone and a phone box.
“Norfolk is bad for phone signal and I think there are people in the village who do not have mobile phones.”
A spokesman for BT said: “Calls made from our public telephones have fallen by around 90pc in the past decade.
“BT is continuing to review its remaining estate of payphones, removing those that are no longer being used, in line with rules set out by Ofcom.
“As part of BT’s wider programme to remove underused payphones across the UK, BT is consulting with North Norfolk District Council on the removal of the payphone in Sharrington.”
The red K6 was once one of the most recognisable features of Britain.
It was designed in 1935 to commemorate George V’s Silver Jubilee and was sometimes known as the Jubilee kiosk.
In 1935 there were 19,000 public telephones in the UK. By 1940, thanks to the K6, there were 35,000. By 1960, there were 64,000.
The K6 was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott – who also worked on Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station – to be smaller and cheaper than their predecessors, taking up less pavement space.
BT say there are around 40 working K6s still in Norfolk.
ENDS
