FOLLOWING strong criticism from a Government minister, BT has said that it will not remove threatened public payphones over which it cannot reach agreement with local authorities.

The admission came after communications minister Mike O'Brien told MPs in the Commons that existing legislation gave councils a "right of veto" over any proposal to remove loss-making kiosks. He claimed that BT's letter to local authorities only outlined the length of the consultation period and sought their views, without disclosing the extent of their powers.

The minister called on BT to re-open consultation in respect of any proposed removal where local councils had not been properly informed. Up to 178 phones could be affected across the D&S Times area.

But BT denies that it did not make things clear at the start of the consultation, pointing to a document - Payphone recovery Q&As - sent out with its original proposals in July. It states that "under a directive agreed with Ofcom, if we receive a written objection from a local authority and/or parish or community council to the proposed removal of a kiosk, we will contact the source of the objection, to discuss further. If, as a result, the objection is still outstanding, we will not remove that kiosk."

"Nothing has changed as far as we are concerned," said a BT spokesman. "We have got to come to some agreement with local authorities.

"If we can't reach agreement then we will probably put that closure on hold. But if they insist then we will keep them, as agreed with the Ofcom directive," he added. "But if we are to continue providing a payphone service, it has got to be cost effective."

Patrick Earl, planning and development unit manager at Richmondshire District Council, was aware of the supplementary document and agreed the wording stated quite clearly that if local authorities objected to a particular closure it would not go ahead. "But we have tried to take a responsible attitude and not put in a blanket objection," he added.

However, Charles Anderson, chief executive at Teesdale District Council, had not had sight of the document and felt its contents had not been made clear to him in four meetings with BT representatives.

About 31 kiosks in Teesdale are earmarked for removal and Mr Anderson said, had he known the contents of the document, it might have changed the way they responded. But he too felt the authority had taken a responsible attitude in deciding which proposed closures to object to.

"We have asked that 14 be retained, but offered no objection to the removal of the other 17," he added. "If it's clear that a box is not being used and there is good mobile reception it would be irresponsible to say that it should remain.

"But if BT come back and say they want to remove any of the 14 we have objected to, we will take a strong view."

Fiona Hall, Lib-Dem MEP for the North-East, gave a cautious welcome to the news from BT, saying it had taken on board some of the concerns. But she added that it was more of a temporary reprieve than a satisfactory conclusion to the campaign.