A Leith Walk councillor joked how the law has no power over an old phone box when sharing a photo of the booth with the construction going around it.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Jack Caldwell took to Twitter to share a picture of the controversial ongoing Trams to Newhaven project that began in 2020.
Publishing a picture of a new pavement laid around an old vandalised phone box, the councillor said: "A new "Island" landscape design for your pleasure, Ross McKenzie... even the mighty Tram Line Two (2006) Act has no power over phone boxes."
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Reacting to the tweet he was mentioned in, Labour councillor Ross McKenzie said: "That's incredible. It's blatantly obvious now that these boxes are being kept in place simply to provide BT with bargaining chips in the push for planning to accept the Street Hubs.
"Expect to see applications for these all along Leith Walk."
Other social media users were quick to react, branding the redundant booth covered in graffiti a "mess" and a "national embarrassment", with some calling on BT to "hang their head in shame at the mess they're currently overseeing UK-wide" regarding the obsolete phone boxes.
A BT spokesperson said: "During the Edinburgh Trams extension project, we have been unable to safely access many of the payphones within the perimeter of the works, but we expect to be able to gain access again soon to repair and clean the payphones which we know are in need of attention.
"We are also progressing plans with Edinburgh City Council to remove dozens of glass payphones across the city, including this one, and replace them with new BT Street Hubs, which will provide a boost to mobile phone capacity, free Wi-Fi, free calls, free mobile charging, allow environmental monitoring and provide free digital advertising space for the council and local businesses.
"We continue to discuss our plans with the council, and we hope that Edinburgh will join other cities, such as Glasgow and Aberdeen, where our new Street Hubs have been welcomed by communities and businesses."
A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson has confirmed that they are working with BT to remove the old phone boxes on Leith Walk.
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