BT has begun removing disused phone boxes from the streets of Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush.

It’s after pressure from the council which said the empty structures were a magnet for crime and looked ugly.

BT owns the phone boxes and has legal rights to keep them under the Telecommunications Act.

The authority said this didn’t deter it from launching a campaign to get them removed.

One phone box has been removed from Rockley Road, near Shepherds Bush Green.

Another two boxes have been taken from Uxbridge Road. One phone box has been removed from outside 189 Uxbridge Road, and another from outside 17 Uxbridge Road.

Three boxes have also been taken from the west end of King Street in Hammersmith, two from outside the Polish Social and Cultural Association, and another from the top of Weltje Road.

Cllr Florian Chevoppe-Verdier, H&F Cabinet Member for Public Realm, said:

We have fought hard with BT to get them to remove these disused phone boxes from our high streets.

These empty phone boxes are a magnet for crime and antisocial behaviour. They also obstruct our pavements and look ugly.

Getting these boxes removed is just one of the ways we are improving our high street for residents, businesses and visitors.”