Dozens more phone boxes face the axe across chocolate-box villages in North Yorkshire

BT has launched a consultation over the future of dozens of its red boxes across Scarborough and Harrogate and elsewhere, warning many are barely used at all with some taking no calls over the course of months.

But amid calls for their retention in more remote areas with poor mobile reception, there are further concerns over the impact on communities, with one under threat being among the most filmed and photographed in the country.

The village of Goathland, near Whitby, is famed as the setting of the television series Heartbeat and the Harry Potter films, with its village green kiosk having featured extensively on-screen.

As parish councils call for the kiosks to be saved, pressure is mounting on MPs and politicians to back the appeal as Scarborough Council’s planning committee seeks support.

Stephen Wilson, Scarborough Council’s conservation manager, cited the “heritage and historical importance” of these traditional red phone boxes as grounds to oppose the move.

“They contribute hugely to the character of places especially in rural villages,” he said.

“The loss of these features is considered to be unacceptable and measures are in place for local communities, parish and town councils to adopt a phone box for only £1.

“This does not retain the actual phone line, only the box,” he added.

The Yorkshire Post revealed last month that of the traditional cherry red telephone boxes, there are now more in Yorkshire that have been taken over under BT’s Adopt a Kiosk scheme than remain in active use.

Across Yorkshire, 410 phone boxes have been transformed, into libraries, art galleries, museums and stores, with just 401 still traditionally taking calls.

Across Harrogate and its deeply rural areas, BT has now identified 32 phone boxes which it warns aren’t being used enough. Use of payphones has fallen 90 per cent in the last

decade, as mobile ownership has risen and coverage extends across 98 per cent of the country.

In remote parts of Beverley, the pay phone is used on average zero times a month, as it is on Greenhow Hill, Nesfield, Ilkley, and Kirk Deighton, Wetherby.

In more remote and rural parts of Scarborough, 16 are under threat, with parish councils in the North York Moors National Park and Esk Valley residents calling for them to be retained amid poor mobile phone reception.

A consultation over their closure was last held just eight months ago, but they were saved by the borough council which has now expressed its “disappointment” at the renewed threat.

Goathland Parish Council said in its objections that tourists are attracted to Goathland because of its famous rural setting and moorland sheep on the village green.

“An estimated 500,000 people visit the village each year because it is also a stopping off point on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway,” its members added.

Other parish councils say the kiosks can be vital in emergencies, and mobile phone coverage is poor and sporadic in parts of the National Park.

The number of calls made from public telephone boxes has fallen by 90 per cent in a decade, BT says, as more people use a mobile phone.

A BT spokesman said: “We consider a number of factors before consulting on the removal of payphones including whether others are available nearby and usage.

“We are consulting with Scarborough and Harrogate Councils on the removal of 48 payphones, providing communities with the chance to comment on our proposals.

“If the council tell us they want a payphone to remain, we will keep it. As part of the consultation, we are also offering communities the chance to adopt traditional red heritage phone boxes for just £1 through our Adopt a Kiosk scheme.

"Adopted kiosks can be turned into a community asset, such as a defibrillator site or mini library. For more details visit bt.com/adopt.”

He said the need for payphones in emergencies is also reducing.