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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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Closure of phone boxes will leave vulnerable stranded says Assembly Member
July 12, 2008 12:00 AM
The Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West, Peter Black has urged British Telecom to rethink its current policy on payphones, after it emerged that more than one in ten phone boxes locally are under threat.
Proposals published by BT could result in 15% of payphones being removed across Wales with communities in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend facing the withdrawal of these potentially life-saving facilities.
Peter Black, who is also his party's Social Justice Spokesperson, said:
"It is essential that BT considers removal of phone boxes not purely on usage and economic viability but also on issues of public safety and social inclusion. Payphones can often be a lifeline in an emergency situation. Just because these phones are not used regularly, to take away that lifeline would be a mistake.
"BT claims that most people have mobile phones, yet some areas have limited or no network coverage and batteries can easily lose their charge. Payphones also play an essential role in providing access to services such as childline or domestic abuse lines in both urban and rural areas.
"Even if they are only used once or twice in a week they still have the potential to save lives. BT has an obligation to maintain a network of payphones on the grounds of public safety and social inclusion, not purely on economic viability."
Ends
Notes for Editors: BT is undertaking a two strand programme of closure: one which will remove payphones where there is another within 400m and another where they will consult on the closure of payphones that BT claims are 'little used'.
There are 4,324 telephone kiosks in Wales. BT is planning to axe 281 pay-phones across Wales where there is another one located within 400 metres. The company is also consulting on the removal of a further 805 Welsh payphones as part of a proposed cull of 10,000 boxes across the UK
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