A PLEA has been made to BT not to remove the payphone kiosk in Talywern, Machynlleth - but instead use it house life-saving equipment.

Powys County Council has been notified by BT Payphones of their intention to remove some payphones within the County.

The removal process is regulated by Ofcom and Powys County Council is the nominated local public organisation that will receive responses from local communities for the consultation exercise. After the consultation the Council will forward recommendations to BT and the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport.

BT advise that overall use of payphones has declined by over 90 per cent in the last decade and the need to provide payphones for use in emergency situations is diminishing all the time, with at least 98 per cent of the UK having either 3G or 4G coverage.

But in a valley village with an elderly population, there is still a reliance on the kiosk and there are fears removing it will cut some residents and visitors adrift.

A letter sent as part of the consultation on behalf of the community by Reverend Sior Coleman urges BT to consider keeping the kiosk and using it to house the village's defibrillator.

Rev Coleman said: "I have spoken with neighbours in the immediate vicinity and they have all shared my concern.

"I do recognise that the provision of such services comes at a cost and understand that periodically you have to review whether such a facility should be continued.

"A number of years ago, the removal of the kiosk was considered. At the time, it was felt that the remoteness of the village, the lack of adequate mobile phone coverage and the distance to any similar facility meant that the kiosk should be retained.

"Talywern is a remote village, six miles from the nearest town (Machynlleth) a similar distance to the nearest Telephone Exchange (Cemaes Road), three miles distant from the nearest main road.

"Since the village is sited in a valley, there is no easily available 3G or 4G mobile signal for residents unless we travel up to quarter of a mile up one or other of the hills surrounding the village. Given the age of several residents, and the fact that an emergency may mean it is not easy for people to go up the surrounding hills, the loss of the kiosk could have very serious consequences.

"Despite the remoteness of the village, under the excellent leadership of community members, a defibrillator has been made available to cover a fairly wide radius. However, there would need to be a facility to make a telephone call in such an emergency.

"It would be a cruel and fatal irony if any delay to summon help following use of the defibrillator was because the payphone had been taken away.

"We have actually wondered whether the kiosk would be a more suitable location for the defibrillator. It would not beyond the community’s ability - if the kiosk also contained the defibrillator as well as the phone.

It is perhaps the defibrillator which underlines the importance of the phone.

Its infrequency of use does no undermine its importance in an emergency - and the same must apply to a telephone.