Preston’s iconic row of red telephone boxes removed for restoration works

The red phone boxes being hoisted onto a flat-bed truck Pic: Preston City Council

More than a decade in the making the city’s grade-II listed row of red telephone boxes are being restored.

Located in Market Street the cast iron kiosks are the longest single line of historic red telephone boxes in the UK.

Bought by Preston City Council in 2021 they have long been eyed up for a new use as retail units and the council secured consent for their restoration.

During Thursday (12 December) the phone boxes were loaded up by telephone box restoration specialists L Carr Contractors and carted off for a spruce up before they return in March next year. The work is costing £80,000.

Councillor Valerie Wise, cabinet member for community wealth building at the city council, said: “Preston celebrates being the home of the UK’s longest line of iconic red telephone boxes, a landmark in the centre of our city that we’ll bring back to life for current and future generations to enjoy.

“Once the restoration is complete and the kiosks are returned to their home on Market Street, we will work with artists to commission light, audio visual or graphic work to bring them alive, adding to the vibrancy of the Harris Quarter.”

The work is being undertaken by the East Yorkshire based phone box restoration specialists and the phone boxes have sadly become a target for vandalism in recent years with smashed glass and peeling paintwork.

Director Liam Carr said: “The award of this prestigious contract allows us to revitalise these historic telephone boxes and enhance community pride and local tourism, ensuring that the charm and nostalgia associated with such iconic traditional red boxes endure in an increasingly digital age.”

Loading up the red phone boxes Pic: Preston City Council

Funding for the restoration comes from the city’s £20million Towns Chest fund which is targeted at the area around the Harris and Town Hall in the city centre.

Chair of the Towns Fund strategic board, John Chesworth, said: “The long-awaited and much-anticipated restoration of these historic telephone boxes would be an outstanding addition to the Harris Quarter. They represent an invaluable and unique city asset and bringing them back into use will provide a popular focal point for many people.”

It is hoped the phone boxes, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1953, will find a new use once returned as art installations or other new uses.

Plans for the red phone boxes, by Studio John Bridge architects

The removal of the phone boxes prompted reaction on social media as ‘Prestonphonebox’ is one of the city’s ‘inanimate object’ accounts on the X platform.

Preston phonebox posted on X: “I was told I was off to Barbados for my winter holidays and refurb and what’s happened ‘bloody Yorkshire’. Damn you Preston Council. I will be back soon followers or there will be trouble.”

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