A COMMUNITY clerk is “frightened” by the prospect of losing phone booths in remote areas.

Eileen Jones, who works for Llanfihangel-y-Pennant community council, is deeply concerned by the potential repercussions of removing BT phone boxes from rural areas, especially ones which don’t receive any mobile coverage.

“It frightens me, everything is being taken away,” Mrs Jones told the Cambrian News.

“We have several kiosks around here and we couldn’t do without some of them.

“Take the one in Minffordd for example. If people get into trouble climbing Cader Idris, that’s the nearest landline for them to use. Very few mobile phones get signal near there and what if your battery dies?

“It’s a busy road too, lots of accidents have occurred there over the years. People need to be able to call the relevant authorities as soon as possible in case of emergency and should not be hunting around for mobile signal.

“The kiosk in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant is equally important for similar reasons.

“We’re not saying we need all the phone boxes - the one by Ty’n y Cornel is probably not essential for instance - but I do wish there was more public consultation, I don’t think we’ve been given the opportunity to get our points across.”

The community clerk was also irritated by the fact that many of the kiosks were not kept in working order which meant potential customers could not use them when they wished to.