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Enough is enough, says campaigner
Denise Julien |
Calls for an end to phone kiosks for prostitution
Claims estate’s public telephones are a magnet for drug dealers and vice trade
RESIDENTS on a Marylebone estate are calling on the council to bulldoze their phone kiosks, which they say are a magnet for drug dealers and prostitutes.
Campaigners are so fed up they have taken matters into their own hands – sweeping prostitute cards from the 11 public phone booths surrounding Holcroft Court on a daily basis.
Some have even confronted cyclists and asked them to dismount over fears they are using the kiosks around the Clipstone Street estate to stash drugs.
Although the council originally granted planning permission for the kiosks, which are operated by BT and Spectrum Interactive, it is powerless to remove them.
The council say the kiosks provide an important service for residents without a landline and are also needed for 999 calls.
The woman leading the campaign, Denise Julien, says the kiosks are a “menace” to the community.
She said: “Why were these booths given planning permission in the first place? Nobody uses them.
“Everyone on the estate has got a mobile or a landline. Nobody has neither and they are so expensive to use anyway.
“Perhaps you need a few for emergencies but 11 is ridiculous. I bet we get more hoax calls than real emergencies.”
Miss Julien went on to say that the kiosks were often targeted three times a day by pimps placing cards advertising prostitutes.
She said: “It’s been like that for the last five years but I’ve started ripping them down now. We’ve all seen the guys who do it. It’s an absolute menace, especially when there’s a primary school next door. Children shouldn’t have to see that every day.”
Over the last two years more than 200 phone kiosks have been erected in the borough. They are lucrative because of the advertising revenue they bring in.
Sam Cunningham, Westminster Council civic watch operations manager said: “Although the telephone kiosks in the area around Holcroft Court are not listed, the council does not have the power to remove redundant phone kiosks as their ownership lies with communications providers British Telecom and Spectrum.”
Police regularly patrol the area and say they are fully aware of the problems associate with the kiosks.
Under current legislation advertising prostitution with cards is an offence. |
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