Camden Town phone boxes removed after enforcement action

Six redundant public phone boxes are being removed from Camden Town after Camden Council used planning enforcement powers over street clutter, poor condition and anti-social behaviour concerns.

The council said breach of condition notices were served in March, requiring the removal of the unused boxes in the Camden Town area. The action follows a previous enforcement case that led to 19 phone boxes being removed from Tottenham Court Road in 2023.

Six boxes targeted in Camden Town

The latest removals affect phone boxes described by the council as largely redundant because public use has fallen sharply with the growth of mobile phone ownership.

Camden Council said many such boxes now record low call numbers and are often left in poor condition. In busy streets, unused kiosks can also narrow pavements, attract vandalism and become sites linked with anti-social behaviour.

For residents, visitors and local businesses, the visible impact is the clearing of redundant street furniture from already crowded parts of Camden Town. The council has framed the action as a planning enforcement matter rather than a general public realm upgrade.

Earlier action on Tottenham Court Road

The Camden Town enforcement follows the removal of 19 phone boxes on Tottenham Court Road in 2023, showing that the council is using a repeated planning route where boxes no longer serve a practical public telephone function.

Public call boxes once formed part of everyday street infrastructure, but their role has reduced as mobile phones became the default way to make calls, check maps and contact services.

Planning notices remain the route

The council’s latest action was taken through breach of condition notices, a planning enforcement tool used when conditions attached to permissions are not being met.

Camden Council has not named the individual streets in the brief notice, but confirmed the affected boxes are in the Camden Town area and that the notices required their removal.

Source: Camden Council