Nottingham 'drug phone' used for 3,000 calls removed

The phone on the right has been used for more than 3,000 calls a year

A heavily-used payphone, which was claimed to have been a "hotline" for drug deals, has finally been removed.

The phone box in The Meadows area of Nottingham has been used for 3,000 calls a year, making it the busiest of the 479 remaining in Nottinghamshire.

"The drug phone", as locals had labelled it, was taken out on Thursday.

Chris Brummitt, from the Bridges Community Trust, said the area would now be "much more pleasant" and "family friendly".

BT had originally suggested the popularity of the payphone in the 1970s shopping precinct was because tourists were using it, which residents called "mind-boggling".

'People left frightened'

A shop worker previously said he had witnessed people using heroin inside the phone box itself.

"It's a hotline for drug dealers basically, and it has been for years," he said.

"When you open the shop in the morning and see a bunch of dishevelled people queuing up to make a phone call they are not phoning the DSS."

Mrs Brummitt said local people were often left "frightened" by young and "unkempt" men who congregated by the phone.

However, now it has gone, she said people "won't be worried about their kids and who they are going to come across".

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She said the removal had come as a surprise and hoped all phone boxes in the area would go eventually.

BT said it is in the process of replacing old phone boxes around Nottingham with InLink units, which provide free wi-fi, phone calls and a charging point, but this phone would not be replaced with a new service.

BT suggested the payphone - which is in a 1970s shopping precinct - could be popular with tourists