Call boxes like these in Edinburgh could disappear

Bruce Crawford has lodged a motion at Holyrood over BT's plans to close a sixth of Scotland's 6,000 call boxes.

BT said its plans to close some of the loss making ones were driven by the huge rise in mobile phone ownership.

But Mr Crawford argues that phone boxes provide a lifeline to the emergency services and wants the parliament to recognise their public value.

The member for Scotland and Fife says they help people who cannot or do not want to buy mobile phones to communicate.

Rolling review

The motion urges BT to consult more directly with the communities that will be affected and to reconsider its plans.

Closure of the payphones in Scotland is the last phase of a rolling review that will eventually see about 10,000 payphones disappear across Britain in less than two years.

BT said there had been "a complete culture change in communication".

The mobile phone has impacted on phone box demand

The company last month completed its review of existing pay phones across England, Wales, and Scotland.

Kiosks will be axed in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and in most other parts of the country.

The company said it would consult with local authorities and community councils over which phones across Scotland will be removed and that it also intended to retain 850 loss-making boxes across the country.

"BT is proud of its payphone network and we intend to protect it for the future, but the payphones division has to stand on its own feet," Paul Hendron, director of BT Payphones, recently told BBC News Online.

People living in rural areas argue many kiosks earmarked for disposal are potential life-savers, especially in areas where mobile signals are unobtainable or where elderly residents may not have mobiles.

BT said it was looking to the future with innovations such as converting 1,200 payphones to multimedia kiosks featuring internet, e-mail, and text messaging.