Village rings changes in a phone box

But a tiny village in the Yorkshire Dales has laid a claim to being the most honest in the country after setting up an unattended grocery store – in an old phone box.

Villagers in Draughton, North Yorkshire, between Skipton and Addingham, have been making up for the absence of a village store by collecting their groceries and newspapers from the now-deactivated phone kiosk.

The goods are left there by a newsagent based four miles away at Skipton. The red phone box has been adapted to include shelves for the papers and is not locked at anytime.

Amazingly, during the whole time the scheme has been in operation not one item has gone missing.

The community of Draughton, which has a population of just 250, was left without a shop after the post office closed following the retirement of its owners, Muriel Curtis and Enid Pringle, in April 2008.

The closure left residents without access to basic household items but Lewis Cooke, who runs a newsagent's in Skipton, decided to continue delivering newspapers and tinned items on to the porch of the shop for collection by residents.

However after BT decided to make the traditional red phone box directly outside the site of the former post office available for just 1 last year – it was decided that the parish council would buy it and make unique use of it.

Mr Cooke, 49, who runs Cooke's newsagent, said: "The parish council got in touch and explained that they had got this phone box and wanted to use it as a place to leave groceries and newspapers for people.

"I said that would be fine and deliver the things to the phone box every morning just before 7am. I put a list of everything that we have in the phone box and people can just call up and tell me what they want.

"They know that it will be put in the phone box the next day and they can just come by whenever they want and pick it up. Everything has the person's name on it so they can just collect it and go.

"Customers either pay with a credit card over the phone or by leaving a cheque for me. It has been amazing the way everyone has respected the things that are left there."

Mr Cooke makes no extra charge to his customers for the delivery service he provides and makes the journey specially each morning to drop off what his clients want. He paid tribute to the villagers' honesty and said the system was working fine.

"The phone box isn't locked and people can come and go in there when they want but no-one has taken a thing," he said.

"Which just shows how honest everyone around here is.

"A shelf was built into the phone box specifically to hold newspapers, while others display the groceries on offer, which include jam, milk, tea bags, sandwiches, butter, cheese and biscuits."

Parish clerk Jane Markham, 50, said the collection system worked because villagers were so trustworthy. She said: "It's a good example of the community spirit of the village, we all look after each other.

"We talked about putting a lock on it, but we decided it wasn't necessary. People here just want to look after each other.

"When the weather was bad last winter we all helped each other, some of the roads are quite steep so you have to look after the elderly.

"At first the telephone box was used just for newspapers, but it worked so well that two weeks ago we decided to try groceries as well."

About 70 Draughton residents are using the telephone box service, with more expected to join in the near future.

Myriad uses for unwanted sites

The use of a phone box as a village shop is just the latest in a series of novel ideas for the UK icon.

One in Somerset was turned into the country's smallest library, loaning more than 100 titles after villagers from Westbury-sub-Mendip started using it as a book exchange.

Kingston upon Thames near London became home to a sculpture of tumbling telephone boxes after artist David Mach positioned 12 kiosks leaning against each other in a domino effect.

Closer to home, the former Johnny's nightclub in Huddersfield was known for a tiny bar which was housed inside a red telephone box.