Vandals trash Wigan phone kiosk in "mindless attack"

One of a township’s last remaining telephone boxes has been vandalised in what has been described as a “mindless attack”.

The booth in Collingwood Street, Standish, was targeted recently by thugs who kicked out two windows and left them on the floor.

A gang of drunken youths were spotted carrying out the vandalism and laughing while they did it.

The box, the only one in Standish centre, has been the subject of a campaign to keep it as it is under threat of removal.

BT is currently consulting with Wigan Council on the removal of the payphone.

The telecoms giant made the proposal after it said calls made from its public telephones fell by 90 per cent in a decade.

But local councillor, Debbie Parkinson, has been behind the campaign to save the phone, which she said is a vital lifeline for some people.

BT only operates two other payphones, one on Chorley Road and the other on Wigan Road.

Expressing her dismay at the damage to the phone which she fears will give BT more reason to remove it, Coun Parkinson said: “This won’t help the case.

“I can’t see them wanting to repair it and it will be more reason for them to get rid.

“This vandalism is mindless and I just don’t understand the mentality of these people to make them want to do it.

“I don’t know if it’s boredom but there’s no excuse.”

Coun Parkinson said she will be contacting BT to see what the latest is with the kiosk.

She added: “I’ve not heard anything more from them about the phone box.

“I think because of Covid it’s been put on the back burner. Not everyone has mobile phones, especially elderly people when they’re out and about, and it could be a lifeline to them in an emergency.”

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