THE disappearance of a public telephone box near Ben Rhydding Station has left residents angry about a lack of consultation.

It is claimed that people had a mere five days to appeal against BT's decision to remove the telephone box before it was demolished, but the company denies this, saying residents had 28 days' notice.

Tom Wesley, of Wheatley Avenue, Ben Rhydding, said that the notice appeared on the box, close to the junction of Bolling Road and Wheatley Lane, on Monday, January 20, or Tuesday, January 21.

The notice said BT had decided to remove it because there were adequate alternative facilities in the neighbourhood.

Mr Wesley questioned this assumption, saying that apart from a public telephone actually inside the railway station, the nearest alternative box, as far as he was aware, was in Springs Lane, near the Grammar School.

And the company has admitted that people would have to travel almost half-a-mile to find another telephone box to use.

Mr Wesley said that although there was a telephone box in the station, people who did not use the station would not be aware of its existence.

He said: "The one in the station is not well advertised and was recently put in. The notice went on the telephone box on Monday or Tuesday last week and on Friday the men came and took it away altogether. There is no telephone box there now.

"They clearly had some

sort of minimum time limit