THERE are proposals to remove 34 public phone boxes across the New Forest district, including Ringwood and Burley.

However, New Forest District Council (NFDC) is objecting to the removal of ten of them, including ones located at the junction of Butlers Lane and Gorley Road in Ringwood and near the village hall in Damerham.

The plans have been put forward by BT. Seven of the 34 call boxes are located within the national park while 27 are outside the park area. The district council along with affected town and parish councils have been contacted by BT as part of the consultation process.

The removal of the phone box in Ringwood, located on the junction of Butlers Lane and Gorley Road, was objected to by NFDC over social composition and being “well positioned and visible” and close to local shops and areas of social housing. However, the council had no objection to the removal of the phone box at the junction of Christchurch Road and Hightown Road. It also did not object to the removal of the phone boxes near Tree House Hotel, Pound Lane in Burley or in Rockford.

The district council called for the retention of the phone box near the village hall in Damerham due to lack of mobile coverage, the level of usage and demographic. The council’s recommendation said: “The level of usage indicates that it is of some value to the local community and the site is close to social housing. The site is on a bus stop used by the school bus and it should be available for use by students in an emergency. In addition, the coverage in this area is patchy.”

It said although the number of calls was “relatively modest”, the “importance of the calls needs to be given significant weighting”.

The district council said the removal of the call boxes in Ringwood and Damerham would be “disadvantageous” to the local community and recommended they be retained.

The objections lodged by NFDC will be registered with the secretary of state for the Department of Trade and Industry, and BT.

BT has a scheme where individuals or community groups, including parish and town councils, can “adopt” a phone box for £1.