Earlier this year British Telecom had been threatening to axe about 20 kiosks in the Melton area as usage continues to decline in the mobile phone age.

But now following consultation with local councils and written requests from Rutland and Melton MP Alan Duncan, BT has announced a new initiative giving local authorities the chance to either adopt or sponsor a kiosk.

A BT spokesman said: "In regions where there's limited use of the public payphone service, a local authority can decide to protect their community landscape by taking ownership of their local kiosks. Rather than removing the kiosk, where requested, BT will simply remove the telephone service and transfer ownership of the traditional red kiosk to the local authority.

"We're also pleased to offer a variation on this scheme - the sponsored kiosk programme. This programme differs in that while usage of the payphone service will be similarly limited, a local authority in addition to protecting the heritage of its community, may want to keep the payphone service in its entirety.

"In such instances, the authorities can decide to 'sponsor' the service, contributing towards the costs of maintenance rather than asking BT to remove the service altogether."

Mr Duncan, who wrote to BT and Ofcom in June suggesting the adopt a kiosk scheme, said: "I'm delighted BT has agreed to what was always a perfectly simple proposal to ensure that red phone boxes don't disappear into the great grey blur of the modern British streetscape."

*For more information about the adopt a kiosk and sponsored kiosk schemes log on to www.payphones.bt.com