Council mocked for saving BT phone boxes so they can be 'enjoyed by generations to come'

The red telephone box is widely recognised as a design classic, worthy of preservation as a symbol of bygone Britain.

But now a local council has decided the rather unloved glass fronted phone kiosks which replaced it - and have long been made redundant by the advent of the mobile phone - are also worthy of being saved for posterity.

Rochdale council, in Greater Manchester, has announced it has saved six BT glass kiosks from being destroyed by the telecoms provider so that they “can be enjoyed by generations to come”.

The decision to save them from the scrapheap has raised eyebrows among some residents, who believe the sentiment may be a stretch too far.

Unlike their red counterparts, the borough’s assortment of BT boxes are tattered, rusted and, in some cases, daubed in graffiti.

And while Rochdale remains determined to save them, neighbouring councils have been pushing for their removal because they are seen as “toilets, drug dens and rubbish dumps”.

Commenting on the announcement, a local resident who wished to be known only as Dan said the kiosks were an eyesore and more likely to mocked than cherished by the community,

"It's been decommissioned so there is nothing in it at all. I thought it was such a funny thing to be 'gifted' to the people,” he added. “It's really funny - it's just a glass box. To be honest, a lot of people do use some of the traditional red boxes as bookshops but I just can't see it with this one.

"The traditional red ones are what you would expect to see it happen with. There are practical uses for disused phone boxes but because of what this one looks like, with it being so ugly, people were just making fun of it."

Unphased by the scepticism, a spokesman for Rochdale insisted that the boxes were worth saving and will now be fitted with heart defibrillators for use in the event of local emergencies.

It follows similar initiatives launched across the country, which have sought to give kiosks--grey and red--renewed purpose whilst preserving their striking features.

“This is part of our life-saving Rochdale Defibrillator project which aims to reduce the number of early deaths in the borough,” the spokesman added.

“The defibrillators will be activated in the next few months, after the necessary work to clean up the telephone boxes and installation of equipment has been completed.”