THERE are four Pembrokeshire phone boxes being offered 'for adoption' by BT.
BT says it is offering communities the chance to adopt an unused phone box to turn into a community asset, such as a small library, art gallery or to house a defibrillator.
The four locations in Pembrokeshire include Quay Street, Lower Town, Fishguard; Old Bridge, Swan Square, Haverfordwest; Pier Road, Pembroke Dock; and East Bank, Main Street, Pembroke.
There are also eight available in Carmarthenshire - including Cilycwm, Llandovery; Meidrim; two in Llansteffan; Nantgaredig; Llanfynydd; Pentrecagal, Newcastle Emlyn and St Clears - as well as Tregaron in Ceredigion.
They are among 77 available for adoption for just £1.
With the traditional red kiosk set to celebrate 100 years since its 1924 inception, after being designed in a competition by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, BT is urging communities to snap up a kiosk for £1.
Michael Smy, head of street at BT, said: “With the vast majority of people now using mobile phones, and significant improvements to mobile coverage across the UK, we’ve continued to see a big drop in the number of calls made from payphones.
“That’s why we’re continuing to review our payphones estate, making sure we’re prioritising the removal of those not being used, in line with Ofcom’s latest guidance."
He added: "With the iconic red kiosk about to turn 100, it’s a great opportunity to remind communities that would still like to retain their local kiosk to take it on for just £1 through our adopt a kiosk scheme.
"We’ve already seen some great kiosk conversions across the UK that have become valuable community assets.”
There are around 20,000 working payphones in the UK, a steep decline from the 100,000 in the 1990s, but with around 98 per cent of the adult population now using a mobile phone, there has been a huge decline in the use of payphones.
This is leading to BT to remove the payphones that are no longer being used, in line with rules set out by Ofcom.
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