RESIDENTS in an East Lancashire town have accused BT of isolating people with plans to remove a number of public telephone boxes.

BT contacted Oswaldtwistle Area Council last month with proposals to remove seven payphones from the town.

An additional 10 will go from the rest of Hyndburn.

The company is looking at around 30,000 phone boxes across the country which no longer meet the needs of customers and aims to remove around 12,000 this year.

But residents, at the last area council meeting, raised concerns that people without private telephones would be cut off by the move.

Eric Walker, of Kingfisher Court, said: "The nearest phone box to me is going so I will have to get all the way to Union Road, which is a long way to go if you need an ambulance. They are cutting people off and isolating them.

"Luckily I have neighbours who would help me but others may not be so lucky."

The use of public payphones has dropped by 37 per cent nationally over the last three years because of the rise in mobile phone use.

Nobody from BT attended the meeting.

Steve Watson, area council officer, said: "BT said they did not have a person with the skills to talk at a public meeting."

A spokesman for BT said: "What they need to do is contact Rick Thompson who is managing the project if they have concerns or want clarification.

"He will get things happening and we would put a hold on sites but until then we will continue to remove them."

A letter will be sent to BT highlighting residents concerns and asking for a meeting with a BT representative.

But work has already begun on a national level to remove phone boxes which have less than half the expected usage.