A COMMUNITY is seeing red after a coveted phone box was removed despite efforts to save it.

A charity had bid to keep Silsden's last remaining red telephone box, as a permanent historical feature.

But BT workmen have taken away the box, which was located at the top of South View Terrace.

And the company has denied receiving any application to 'adopt' the structure, which had been in situ for well over half a century.

Silsden Aid in Sickness says it applied in April to take on the box, under a national scheme which allows town councils and registered charities to retain the iconic landmark features for a token £1 payment.

The idea then was that the town's local history group would assume responsibility for restoring the old call box and putting it to an imaginative new use in the centre of Silsden.

Plans were well in hand to transform it into a history and information point, with several possible sites identified, a builder lined-up to carry out the restoration work and quotations obtained for illustrated graffiti-proof panels. There was also the potential for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

History group chairman, David Mason, said the sudden removal of the box was "very disappointing".

"These red telephone boxes are an important and well-loved part of our national scenery and have given useful – and indeed vital – service for well over a century," he said.

"We believe that communities should preserve at least one example for the benefit of future generations."

Architect Mark Wogden, a leading campaigner to keep the box, said the battle would continue.

"All may not be lost," he added.

"We shall be taking the matter further with BT and finding out whether correct processes have been followed.

"There may have been a misunderstanding between departments that can still be put right."

BT told the Keighley News that it was open to discussions with the interested group.

"We've checked our records but can't find an application to adopt the box in Silsden," said a spokesman.

"We'll be happy to discuss the matter further with any interested parties when they contact us."

The South View Terrace box, which had recently fallen into disuse and disrepair, was the only survivor of half a dozen Silsden kiosks from the pre-mobile phone era.

Silsden's first public call box, installed in 1914, was outside the post office in Kirkgate.