Proposals to remove public payphones from areas of Tenby have set alarm bells ringing for local councillors.

An application from BT for the removal of public payphones from various sites within the National Park, came before members of Tenby Town Council at their meeting on Tuesday night.

The town clerk, Andrew Davies, told members that the application included two phone boxes in Tenby, one on Heywood Lane and the other at Knowling Mead.

“The Heywood Lane phone has been used 26 times in 12 months, and the Knowling Mead facility 127 over that same period,” he told members.

Clr. Trevor Hallett felt that the phoneboxes were still important in those areas of Tenby, as not everyone had a mobile phone, especially elderly residents.

Clr. Kerri Durham said that the Knowling Mead phonebox may not have been used much, as it may broken as far as she was aware.

“I don’t think there’s even a handset there, just a wire!” she told her colleagues.

Clr. Paul Rapi told his fellow members that he was concerned about the payphones being removed on Heywood Lane as there were three schools in the area.

“From an emergency point of view, what if one of the pupils needs to use a payphone as a form of communication. Removing the facility there could put a lot of children at risk, especially over the winter months when it’s dark,” he remarked.

Councillors’ views would be passed on to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority.