Residents are to be consulted over the future of a village’s red phone boxes.

Last month the Leader reported that Sarah Jones, natural resources officer for Cadwyn Clwyd, told members of Llay Community Council about a project to give K6 Giles Gilbert Scott red telephone kiosks a new lease of life by installing facilities decided on by the community.

Llay has two of the kiosks – one in First Avenue and another in Croes Howell – and participation in the ‘Red Telephone Box Regeneration Project’ would require the community council to match fund £750.

After thinking about the scheme and hearing initial reactions from residents of Llay, community councillors have decided more consultation needs to be done to determine the future use of the kiosks.

Speaking at a meeting of the community council on Wednesday, Cllr John O’Keefe said a social media post by Cllr Rob Walsh about the matter received a large response from the public.

Cllr O’Keefe said: “Rob put something on Facebook and there was 70 people that want to keep them as booths.

“And some suggestions actually said ‘can we make it vandal-proof with special glass that is unbreakable’.

“I think it is a good idea to retain what we’ve got – it is our heritage and we should be keeping it.

“If it needs making vandal-proof let’s do that because there’s 70 people who have commented and said they want it. I personally want it as well.”

Cllr Rob Walsh said: “I agree with John. I was a bit dubious – the reason I wanted to gauge public opinion was because I didn’t want us to do something that the public said ‘what a waste of money’ but I didn’t want us to dismiss it.

“I was surprised how strongly the public were in favour of keeping them. I think we should continue exploring options because the pubic would like to see them stay but vandalism is a real worry.”

At the previous meeting members heard of some of the things the kiosks could be turned into, including defibrillator stations, first aid stores, bicycle puncture repair stations, visitor information kiosks and more.

Cllr Walsh suggested the council looks into the process of adopting the phone box itself and said the question of what to do with the kiosks should be opened up to other community groups.

He added: “We have so much talent in the village – I think there are people outside this room who may have ideas about what to do.

“We could think of a short list of options and put it to the public and see what they would like.”

Cllr Ken Cupit said: “I think we have to be mindful we are spending Llay residents’ money and if you bear in mind we have been saddled with the lollypop man and the playground repairs – this is another thing that has been added on.

“How many more will come along? Everything will be downloaded to us in this council.”

Cllr Wynn Austin said: “I was interested in the defibrillator idea because it could save someone’s life. To me I think that is a great thing for the community.”

Members agreed to keep the kiosks on the agenda for the next meeting in order for further consultation over the idea to be undertaken.

Members previously heard that Cadwyn Clwyd is looking to refit five of the phone boxes across Wrexham.

It is part of the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020, which is financed by the Welsh Government and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).