County council fears rural payphone closures (From Gazette & Herald)

County council fears rural payphone closures

COUNCIL chiefs are set make a fresh plea to British Telecom over plans to scrap payphones in rural areas of North Yorkshire - saying the proposals could put lives at risk.

The telecommunications giant, whose slogan is It's Good To Talk, plans to dismantle 297 of the 1,805 payphones in North Yorkshire, including 33 in York, 27 in Ryedale, 12 in Selby, 36 in Scarborough, 38 in Harrogate, and 38 in Hambleton.

The kiosks face the axe as part of a national programme of reductions to close payphones that run at a loss.

The main reason given for the action by Paul Hendron, director of BT Payphones, is the increase in the ownership of mobile phones, which has caused public kiosk use to halve in the last three years.

Now Jeremy Walker, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, says in a report that the removal of rural public payphones would compromise people's safety, because there is an acute problem with lack of mobile phone reception in the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales national parks.

The council's research has shown that removing payphones in rural areas, particularly where there is no mobile phone reception, could seriously compromise the safety and security of vulnerable groups like children, those on low incomes, and the elderly, as well as having an impact on the safety of tourists.

It believes that even though usage in rural areas is low, because they are sparsely populated, this is not a completely reliable measure of a payphone's importance.

Mr Walker said: "In all these instances, although the payphones in question may not be profitable, there is little doubt that their removal compromises the safety and security of a number of people, many of whom may be very vulnerable."

Mr Hendron has recognised there was a public safety need for phones, particularly at accident blackspots, and has suggested the council meets the company to discuss non-cash payphones that only allow operator, cash card and emergency calls.

The issue will be discussed by the county council's ruling executive at County Hall, Northallerton, on Tuesday.

Updated: 14:10 Thursday, February 10, 2005