ANYONE who is fond of traditional red phone boxes has less than two months to make their feelings known before they could disappear from Uttlesford for good. The district currently has 42 of the iconic red payphone booths and all of them can be adopted

ANYONE who is fond of traditional red phone boxes has less than two months to make their feelings known before they could disappear from Uttlesford for good.

The district currently has 42 of the iconic red payphone booths and all of them can be 'adopted' by local parish councils for a nominal fee of �1.

Individuals who are concerned about the loss of their local phone box have the chance to respond to a national consultation by informing their parish councillors who can then relay the information to Uttlesford District Council (UDC) - but they must do this before the end of the year.

A council spokesman said: "British Telecom is inviting local authorities to take over control of the phone boxes, without actual phones inside, for a nominal fee of �1. The controlling authority would then assume responsibility for each phone box's upkeep.

"Uttlesford District Council needs to respond to a consultation BT is carrying out on its plans at the beginning of January. To enable it to do this, parish councils have been asked to inform the council if they wish to take part in BT's 'Adopt a Kiosk' scheme by December 18."

Although some of the 42 payphones still receive occasional use, there are phone boxes in Great Sampford, Littlebury Green and Little Bardfield for example, from which not a single call has been made in the last year.

This continued decline is being blamed on the popularity of mobile phones and BT is looking to cut costs by shedding many of the boxes across the country.

For more information visit www.uttlesford.gov.uk/phoneboxes, where you can discover exactly which phone boxes are affected and find out more about BT's "Adopt a Kiosk" programme.

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