Village fighting for return of its phone box

Emma de la Fosse says the phone box in Manaton, Devon, vanished without consultation

A remote village is pleading for the return of its public phone box which it claims was taken away without consultation.

People living in Manaton on Dartmoor in Devon have said the public telephone was vital in an area with no mobile phone reception.

Resident Emma de la Fosse said villagers now faced a two-mile car drive to get a mobile signal if they had no access to a landline.

BT said its records showed the Manaton phone box was removed in 2020 and while people might not be able to access their own mobile provider, they could still make 999 calls.

A BT spokesman said the company only removed boxes that were no longer being used, in line with Ofcom guidance and following consultation with local authorities.

Ms de la Fosse claimed there had been no consultation with villagers about the removal of the Manaton phone box.

She said BT took away the original phone box a "few years ago" but after a local outcry, it was replaced with a modern alternative.

The replacement had also since "disappeared" without consultation with either the parish council or Dartmoor National Park Authority, she said.

"It's all a bit of a mystery... and because we don't have any information about BT's decision, it makes it impossible to register a complaint with Ofcom," Ms de la Fosse said.

Devon County Councillor Sally Morgan, who is also a member of Dartmoor National Park Authority, said BT should have followed Ofcom guidance and consulted before removing the phone box.

She said: "I'm aware of the situation and will do what I can to ensure that BT at least provides an explanation regarding its actions but better still, gives Manaton residents peace of mind in the shape of a working public phone box."

Ms De La Fosse said Manaton was a notorious "mobile black spot" with no reception at all in some parts of the village.

"There are many elderly people in the area, plus lots of walkers.

"Some residents have had lost tourists knocking on their door asking if they can use their phone as they can't get a signal on their mobile and the OS map still shows a box here."

'Sympathetic noises'

Ms De La Fosse said the situation would be made worse following the switch over to digital land lines which meant phones would not work in the event of a power cut.

She said Manaton was not the only area within Dartmoor National Park which had no mobile signal.

"There are quite a few isolated communities across Dartmoor. I'm trying to explain to BT that people like us with no mobile phone signal need our phone boxes, for all the reasons. They make sympathetic noises and nod, but nothing really seems to happen.

"I think they can't really understand what it's like to live in a relatively isolated rural community."

Stronger protections for public call boxes was introduced by Ofcom in 2023.

Under the new criteria, phone boxes are protected in places without coverage from all four mobile network providers.

BT publishes figures for the number of phone boxes retained under the criteria, showing there are still more than 13,000 across the UK. The same site lists those which have been removed.

A BT spokesman said: "BT has around 13,000 operational public payphones across the UK. This is down from around 20,000 two years ago.

"Today, 98% of the adult population uses a mobile phone, with calls made from our public telephones falling by around 90% in the past decade.

"At the same time, rural mobile coverage has improved significantly in recent years due to our investment and role in the Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme."

The spokesman said all UK mobile operators had outdoor mobile coverage in Manaton according to Ofcom's mobile coverage checker.

"This ensures emergency calls can be made on any mobile phone network and, if a customer lives in an area where their network doesn't have reception but another does, 999 calls will still automatically connect."