NORTHWICH Town Council is asking the public for ideas on how they can transform an iconic phone box to be of more use to the community.

The red phone box, which is situated outside The Penny Black pub on Witton Street, was purchased by the council for £1 as part of BT’s Adopt a Kiosk scheme.

In many parts of the country, the boxes have been transformed to house defibrillators, book swaps and even miniature art galleries.

And now the council is seeking residents’ opinions on the best way that the iconic kiosk can best serve the Northwich community.

“The original plan for this iconic phone box was to house a defibrillator, but BT said the kiosk was still in use and we sited the defibs in other locations,” said Town Clerk Chris Shaw.

“BT have now offered us the phone box for community use, and there are numerous purposes that it could serve, from a small library to an information point.

“These are just some ideas, so we would like the Northwich community to come up with some suggestions of how they would like to see the box used.”

Northwich Guardian:

The Adopt a Kiosk scheme enables the community to retain an iconic red phone box and is open to local councils, registered charities and private landowners.

Due to the growth of the mobile phone industry, nearly half of the UK’s public phone boxes have been removed, but there are still 5,000 which can be adopted and converted.

Speaking about the scheme, BT said: “The Adopt a Kiosk scheme has been successful in transforming unused payphone kiosks and preserves the heritage of the red kiosk, particularly in rural locations.

“We allow red kiosks to be adopted, subject to certain criteria such as low use and those not required for our future plans.

“Since we launched our Adopt a Kiosk scheme, more than 5,000 communities across the UK have seized the opportunity to do something wonderful with local phone boxes that had little or no usage.

“Northwich residents will have the opportunity to get back in touch with their local phone box to make them once again an asset that local people can enjoy.”

To have your say on how the phone box can be best used, email chrisshaw@northwichtowncouncil.gov.uk.