WHEN is a telephone box not a telephone box? When it's a listed building.

Former sub-postmistress Joyce Dixon has spent months trying to convince BT otherwise.

She says the company has got its wires crossed over the traditional red kiosk outside her Moore home.

When Mrs Dixon ran the village post office, she served the public well. She was even happy for people to use the public payphone on what is technically her property.

But when she decided to retire last year, Mrs Dixon wrote to BT telling them she wanted to reclaim the boundary of her land and asked for the payphone to be put elsewhere.

But the simple request has swamped Mrs Dixon and husband Phil in a mountain of red tape.

They have spent months wrangling over the listed status of the telephone booth.

Meanwhile, BT has met their request half way by - they have deterred visitors by removing the phone, but the box remains.

"We often see people going in to use it, but there's no service there whatsoever," said Mrs Dixon.

The Dixons were told they would have to 'de-list' the box and they applied to the Department of Heritage only to be told the box isn't listed.

Now, they are trying to persuade BT of the fact: "I'm very optimistic we'll resolve the situation," added Mr Dixon. "What is annoying is that I wrote to BT in May 1997 to ask them to remove it by October and it is still there."

A BT spokesman said: "Our records show the kiosk is listed and until this matter is cleared up we can't move it.

"We will have to have written confirmation from the Department of Heritage, then we can make arrangements."

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