The Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC) councillor for the Ceiriog Valley believes the removal of public phone kiosks would be too much of a risk as they could help to save someone’s life.

Councillor Trevor Bates highlighted the importance of the phone kiosks remaining in the valley, after BT were looking into the possibility of removing one from Pandy.

Because of the difficulties posed by a lack of phone signal in areas of the valley, cllr Bates believes kiosks could be the only way of making contact with emergency services during an incident in some areas.

For this reason, he believes it is important to keep them in place.

He said: “The reason for them possibly being removed is that they are not used very often.

“But they could prove to be a matter of life or death at some point.

“It’s like with defibrillators – they are not used often, but they could potentially save a life.

“At a lot of places in the valley, it is extremely difficult to get phone signal – in some areas it is non–existent.

“The locals know it is unreliable. It would be a risk to take the option of using the public phones away.”

Cllr Bates highlighted the fact that people visit the area to take part in recreational activities which could potentially result in accidents.

“You get people who drive up the Wayfarer and get stuck, and they then have to come down into the village to use the public phone to call for help.

“If the phone box isn’t there, it could be difficult for them to find a mobile phone that works which someone would be willing to lend them, especially during the current situation.

“We have lots of bikers and motorcyclists nearby, schoolchildren doing Duke of Edinburgh exercises, so it could be vital if any need help, especially at night.”

He believes that improved mobile signal in the region would make the removal of the phone boxes more acceptable.

“There are plans for mobile coverage in the region, and if we had good mobile signal here, then it would be fine to take the phone boxes away,” cllr Bates said.

“But, until then, it’s too much of a risk to take them from here.”