В Уоррингтоне сохранился один из пяти редких красных телефонных киосков K4

PHONEBOX fans have come from far and wide to picture it. And you may have drive or walked by it hundreds of times. But this bright red box near the former Mr Smiths is believed to be one of just five ‘K4 designs’ left in the country. It even features in a BBC Four documentary. Research suggests K4 boxes were produced between 1929 and 1935 which in Warrington would fit with the opening of the Ritz cinema and the remodelling of the landscape around it. The K4 was built to provide the services of a telephone kiosk and post office incorporating a stamp vending device and letter box and was one of only 50 produced. Their popularity was hindered by their shape as they were much larger than other designs and the noise of the stamp vending machine interfering with telephone calls and damp penetrating the machine and affecting the dispensing of the rolls of stamps. It is nicknamed the ‘the vermilion giant’. In 2010 the Warrington Guardian reported the Letter Box Study Group, with members from across the country, visited the hybrid phonebox. And enthusiasts from across the world have also made it their mission to visit.