Piece of 1980s retro set to disappear from street as plans drawn up to remove more Sheffield phone boxes
The were once a feature of every corner of Sheffield.
But now, Sheffield’s phone boxes are becoming rarer and rarer.
BT will not give out figures for the number still on the streets of the city and will not comment on specific payphones.
But it is understood the company has nearly halved the number it operates nationally in two years. There are around 12,000 operational public payphones across the UK. This is down from around 20,000 two years ago. In their place they have been installing new ‘street hubs’ - but The Star has discovered few people know what these are.
This week, it has submitted plans to get rid of more of its old 80s style boxes, removing a piece of 80s retro from a street. It also comes at a time when a high profile 30s style box in the city centre is losing its phone.
The 1980s style boxes, which upset some when they were first rolled out because they were not as ornate as the older 1920s and 1930s versions, are now starting to disappear from the city’s streets, as mobile phones reduce the need for old style call booths.
The latest planning application to take two away looks set to see the end of the last of the three boxes which once stood at the junction of Alderson Road and London Road.
In 2008, there were three phone boxes at the site. By 2023 one had been removed, and another converted to a cash machine.
Now BT wants to remove the last ones on the site, and replace them with one of its modern ‘Street Hubs’.
The company has been rolling these out since late 2022, when the first four units were unveiled at the sites in Arundel Gate, Brook Hill, Wicker and Bradfield Road,
The company says Street Hubs offer a range of benefits including free ultra-fast WiFI, free emergency calls and rapid device charging.
They say that they also provide directions to help tourists find where they are going and have the capacity to be fitted with signal boosting 4G and 5G cells.
BT has filed a planning application with Sheffield Council, asking for permission to remove the two London Road boxes.
In their place they will install one of their new BT Street hubs, which will include digital 75-inch screens which will show adverts.
They said in their application: “The main Street Hub structure will be made of galvanised mild steel, with a powder coated external grade aluminium exterior.
“Displays will be made of tempered and toughed laminated glass.”
They have told the council the hubs can also be used to count pedestrian numbers, measure traffic congestion, count bikes and vehicles, and measure environmental factors including sound and light.
The original red phone box was designed by the famous designer Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who won a Post Office competition in 1924. It became an instantly recognizable symbol of Britain, although it was changed slightly in the 1930s. A simplified red phone box was introduced to the streets in the 1960s
After it was privatised in 1985, BT brought in new designs because of concerns over vandalism. This 1980s design is what BT want to remove from the site on London Road.