BT chiefs have been accused of letting vandals wreck 'phone kiosks in Frenchwood.

One BT phone box at the corner of Carlton Drive is regularly trashed and glass is shattered across the pavement, and residents fear for their children's safety.

But the phone company bosses have refused to use anti-vandal substances in the kiosk because it is only targeted -- on average -- every six weeks!

According to managers they are only empowered to act -- which means refurbishing the kiosk with a substance called Polycarbonate -- if the kiosk is vandalised once a month.

BT's stance has angered residents and local councillors -- in particular Ken Cole, who has been in discussions with the telecommunications company to see what can be done.

Coun Cole said: "BT should not tolerate vandalism. The glass in the phone box should be replaced with some form of anti-vandal material. "It is targeted by vandals every six weeks. Something needs to be done."

Residents living in Carlton Drive and the Boulevard backed the councillor's stance demanding BT tackle the situation.

One resident, who didn't want to be named for fear of reprisals, said: "It's absolutely sickening. These vandals must be out late at night because I have never seen them.

"I would like to think that a big company such as BT will tackle this problem and look at putting anti-shatter glass in the kiosk. These vandals want stringing up for what they do."

Les King, from BT who is responsible for the country's phone kiosks, added: "The reason why we don't use Polycarbonate is because it's easily scratched, making the phone box not a very nice place to make a call from so we try to avoid it where we can.

"We take cases of vandalism very seriously indeed. More than 1,500 people were arrested last year for vandalism to our phone kiosks.

"We believe attacks like these in Frenchwood are attacks on the community, not attacks against BT."