Local UK Councils Rail Against Surge in Trojan Telephone Boxes

The Local Government Association, which represents 370 councils across England and Wales, has called on the central UK government to tackle the growing tide of “trojan telephone boxes” (e.g. boxes installed almost solely for advertising) by removing their Permitted Development status.

We can still recall a time when telephone boxes actually had telephones inside, which were often but not always accompanied by a scribbled list of numbers for your local drug dealers, prostitutes and that all too familiar stench of slightly aged urine or a used condom from the night before. Iconic. Mercifully they weren’t all like this and some of the classic red boxes remain historically lovely.

Since then we’ve had the Mobile phone revolution and as a result the humble telephone box is on its way out. Cleverly, some of them still find metaphorical employment as converted WiFi hotspots, while others are being replaced by BT’s super-modern InLinkUK kiosks (here) or similar, but on the whole the overall number should be in decline.

Instead some of you may find it surprising that the number of applications to build new boxes has actually sky-rocketed by 927% (based on a sample of 12 council areas). Unfortunately a few crafty companies have cottoned on to the Permitted Development loophole, which allows new boxes to be installed without planning permission. The LGA claims these often end up becoming “little more than advertising billboards.”

The Pace of New Applications
* Newcastle had 95 applications for new boxes in 2017 compared with 1 in 2015.
* Westminster received 180 applications in 2017 compared with 13 in 2015.
* Birmingham had 95 in 2017 compared with 10 in 2015.
* Liverpool had 97 in 2017 compared with 10 in 2015.
* Lambeth had 71 in 2017 compared with 1 in 2015.

As well as being used for advertising, councils have also seen telephone boxes “fall victim to anti-social behaviour, fly-posting and graffiti” (not exactly a new trend or unique to such boxes). On top of that councils say they are powerless to remove them when the telephones are marked as being out of use.

Cllr Martin Tett, LGA Planning Spokesman, said:

“The rise of the smartphone and digital age has seen the telephone box become a largely obsolete relic of a bygone era.

While there is still a limited need for some telephone boxes in our town centres and cities, for example for emergencies, the number of applications councils have seen is simply staggering.

Companies are exploiting a loophole in the law to allow what is tantamount to Trojan telephone boxes being used as advertising spaces rather than the original purpose of providing a place for people to use a phone.

As a result pedestrians are being bombarded with a series of eyesores that blight the public highway.

Councils are currently powerless to act, so we want the Government to overturn the existing out-of-date legislation and give local authorities the ability to take action where this is an issue.”

Hopefully this is something that can be corrected before the trend gets worse. In the meantime, how can you tell if a Bee is on the phone? You get a buzzy signal. I’ll get my coat.

See below for a list of related applications by area.