Human blockade saves village’s red phone box

Villagers who formed a human barricade to stop their red telephone box being removed are celebrating after being told they can save the vintage kiosk for the princely sum of £1. Residents of Kilmuir on the Black Isle, near Inverness, staged a campaign to rescue their phone box after they learned owner BT planned to take it away. A tow truck was due on Tuesday, but residents of the former fishing village blocked access with their cars and operated a rota to ensure the phone box was protected at all times.



On Thursday a BT spokesman said it had relented and decided the community could “adopt” the kiosk for £1. Delighted John Hill, 68, who had led the campaign to rescue the box said: “That is fantastic. The red phone box is an iconic part of the village. We can now stand down from protecting it.” Although the kiosk has not been used to make a call for three years, the 100-strong population of Kilmuir argued it was a valuable landmark.

The Kilmuir campaign sprang to life on Tuesday when a crane driver arrived and asked Viola Lawlor, 64, where the kiosk was located. She said: “He already had two red phone boxes on the back of the lorry and stopped to ask if I could tell him where the phone box was. I told him he could not take our phone box away without a fuss. He said he needed to speak to his supervisor and would come back the next day.”


Photo from SWNS.

After that, the phone box was not left unattended, as villagers threw a ring of steel around it. Their dedication impressed BT, which decided the community could adopt it. “It’s brilliant,” said Mr Hill. “We will all help pay for the upkeep, but it was a close call. We accept there is no need for a landline. But this is part of the village. It is an iconic landmark which we wanted to retain and which we can now keep. It is important as visitors like seeing it.”