VILLAGERS fighting to save a public telephone box have been left hanging after it was sold for �250.

Residents of Therfield were trying to retain the traditional booth on the village green as a feature.

But the conservators who inherited the box from BT sold it for �250 and it was removed on Sunday.

Sylvia Drury, of Therfield, organised a petition to save the phone box

She said: “People were offering their help and we were all trying to rally round to support it but the conservators wanted a huge amount of money to buy it.

“The phonebox was on the village green and the village wanted it kept. If they are conservators, why can’t they help us conserve it?”

But the clerk of Therfield Parish Council, David Law, claims the conservators reached out through the parish council to try and garner interest but no-one was forthcoming.

Insurance problems also made it difficult for the phone box to be kept.

Mr Law said: “The conservators are a charity and have by the responsibility of charity to maximise any potential income and the box is worth money.

“It was discussed quite thoroughly by the town council and no-one in the village was in the position to come forward and take it on.”