Three payphones to go as councillors are told of BT hit list

Payphone use has dropped sharply, according to BT.

The telecommunications giant says the use of such facilities has fallen by 90 per cent over the last decade.

Earlier this year it announced that 75 of the 186 it operates in South Lanarkshire are to go.

Now councillors have been given a list of each one. It includes the payphone at Woodlands Avenue/St Bride’s Way in Bothwell where only four calls were made over a 12-month period.

Also on the list are phones at Myres Crescent/Bellshill Road in Uddingston from where 10 calls were made and Clyde Avenue/Silverwells in Bothwell which had 40 calls over the year.

BT has promised not to remove payphones were local authorities object.

Councillors on South Lanarkshire’s planning committee heard there are no objections from officials to the removal of the payphones in Bothwell and Uddingston.

However, the council will opppose the proposed loss of 15 payphones, located in areas including Rutherglen, East Kilbride and Abington.

BT also plans to remove 24 of its 137 payphones in North Lanarkshire.