CIVIC chiefs plan to use their veto to save a swathe of phone boxes threatened with the axe.

British Telecom has branded 44 boxes in the Winchester district uneconomic and launched proposals to decommission them.

But Winchester City Council (WCC) says it plans to object to the removal of 37 boxes on BT's list, claiming many are important local amenities.

The seven now likely to be removed are boxes at: Parsonage Lane, Durley; Outlands Lane, St Peters Close and Gordon Road, Curdridge; Old Alresford; Woodlands, near Bramdean; and Church Lane, Swanmore. The latter four are among 11 in the district that BT said had not been used to make outgoing calls of any kind over a recent 12-month period.

"We have considered usage levels, the comments of residents and parish councils and the importance of retaining local facilities particularly in rural areas," said WCC leader George Beckett. "While we appreciate these phone boxes may be uneconomic for BT, they are important local amenities.

"The day may come when everyone has a mobile phone, but we are not there yet and so the phone boxes must stay."

In the vast majority of cases the authority is objecting to the closure of boxes because of concerns expressed by parish councils or the inadequacy of mobile phone coverage.

It says just four phones - in Hazeley Road, Twyford; Hoe Road, Bishop's Waltham; Kilmeston; and Springvale Road, Kings Worthy - justify retention based on how frequently they are used.

It wants to retain the following phones because they are important locations for making emergency calls: Bighton Lane, Gundleton; Hoe Road, Bishop's Waltham; The Avenue, Bishop's Waltham; Martins Fields, Compton; and Church Street, Upham.

BT is keen to get rid off of hundreds of boxes around the country, because they no longer make any money, but local authorities have the power of veto.

While many phones have been removed communities are able to retain the much-loved boxes through BT's Adopt a Kiosk scheme.

Villagers sprang to the defence of phone boxes in 2008 when BT announced it wanted to remove more than 150 - some 80 of which are traditional red ones - across Winchester, Southampton, Eastleigh, New Forest, Test Valley and Fareham areas.

In the Winchester district, campaigners persuaded the city council to step in to save 41 out of 43.

Residents have until Friday, January 22, to comment on WCC's phone box proposals. For more information visit www.winchester.gov.uk/BT