Atwick red phone box destroyed in crash to be reinstalled

The listed K6 box was destroyed after being hit by a car in May

A village has successfully campaigned to have its old red phone box replaced after the original was hit by a car.

The listed K6 red box on the village green in Atwick, East Yorkshire, was completely destroyed in May.

Residents lobbied BT after the company said it did not replace damaged kiosks "like for like".

The telecoms firm relented and will reinstall one of the original K6 kiosks dating from the 1930s.

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Villagers sent a petition to BT and enlisted the help of their local Conservative MP Graham Stuart.

'Local passion'

Mr Stuart said BT initially told him they never replaced damaged red boxes as they were. "too expensive to maintain". Following another meeting the firm agreed.

Mr Stuart said he was delighted that the "cultural icon" K6 box was being replaced.

"These phone boxes are wonderful parts of our local landscape, important to our tourism industry, and this one provides a vital service in a village with poor mobile signal, especially as there is a defibrillator only a few metres away," he said.

BT said it had changed its policy in this instance as "the passion shown by local people to keep their red phone box in the heart of their community meant an exception had to made".

The cast-iron K6 kiosk was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to mark the Silver Jubilee of King George V in 1935.

The original box stood on the village green