Phone box ads spur concern over safety

Walsall's safety chief today called for BT to remove displays that obscure people using the booths, amid fears they could be targeted by crooks. The advertisements offer lucrative revenue for BT, with many phone boxes running at loss due to use of mobile phones.

But Councillor Gary Perry, Walsall's cabinet member for community safety, said some, including a number in his ward, made users particularly vulnerable to criminals.

And he said that the widespread use of mobile phones meant the facilities were no longer necessary in case of emergencies.

"They seem to be putting these advertisements on more and more phone boxes now," he said.

"The problem is that you can't see what's going on inside, which is very worrying from a safety point of view.

"We often hear about violent assaults in telephone boxes and I'm concerned that this could make them even more common.

"They really should only be able to cover the bottom half of them with advertisements and I have put these concerns to BT, but that hasn't made any difference."

He said one phone box covered in advertisements, in Wolverhampton Road, Pelsall, was also a haven for yobs and was regularly vandalised.

"Certain ones like this only seem to be used for illicit purposes," he said.

"But BT say they won't close them for anti-social behaviour reasons and will only do so if asked to by the police.

"I know there was a time when they were crucial in case of emergencies, but I think that is only really the case in rural areas these days.

"In Pelsall, we have three public phone boxes around the centre and they are simply not needed. There will always be the need for phone boxes in some areas, but in places like this they are clearly no longer of use."

No one from BT was available for comment today.