The leaning box of All Cannings (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

The leaning box of All Cannings

2:38pm Tuesday 3rd February 2009 in Devizes By Lewis Cowen

Parish councillors at All Cannings, near Devizes, are hoping their leaning phone box will become as famous as the bell tower of Pisa.

When BT declared the K6 phone box redundant, the parish council was offered the chance to buy it for £1. They shelled out so that it could be preserved as part of the traditional street furniture of the village.

But before the council took ownership and was able to insure it, a late night parking mishap bent the kiosk out of the vertical.

Parish council chairman Tim Daw said their first priority was to make sure the kiosk was safe and secure.

He said: “We don’t want it to become an informal urinal. My own suggestion is that we keep it locked and have jungle plants growing inside it; our own miniature Eden. But others may have better ideas.

“We want to hear them before we decide what to do.”

The most contentious problem is what to do about the lean. Some parishioners say it is a disgrace and the box must be returned to the vertical as soon as possible.

Mr Daw added: “I rather live having such a unique feature. If Pisa can have its tower and Chesterfield its crooked spire, why can’t All Cannings be home to the leaning kiosk?”