BROADWAY parish councillors have praised BT for maintaining a loss-making phone kiosk in the village.

The proposal to get rid of the phone box, at the junction of Leamington Road and High Street, was part of a nationwide scheme. A national review in 2002 had shown an almost 50 per cent drop in the use of pay phones over the last three years.

The reprieve for the Broadway phone kiosk follows a similar outcome in Evesham. Town councillors were told a BT phone box along Broadway Road in Evesham would stay after they voiced their objections.

Councillor David Folkes, chairman of Broadway Parish Council, said: "I think it's very good that BT has listened to us. I know people aren't using the kiosk as much any more so they are running at a loss. But this isn't just a facility, it's also something nice to look at.

"People don't come to Broadway to buy cabbages or potatoes from the greengrocer but to look at the olde-worlde buildings and the phone box adds to the atmosphere of the village. And there are still a lot of elderly people who haven't got mobile phones so that box is still used occasionally."

BT spokesman Paul Dorrell said: "A lot of phone boxes don't break even, let alone pay their way. But if we do propose getting rid of any of them there is a public consultation to give the planning authority and general public the opportunity to talk to us.

"Having listened to the objections in this case it was agreed the phone box should stay."