Scratby phone box becomes community library

And now one of the boxes has been given a new lease of life in the coastal village of Scratby.

A red phone box has been lifted onto the corner of Beech Road and Beach Drive after it had been refurbished.

The red phone box being prepared to be lifted into place (Image: Peter Holley)

It now has a new life as a lending library and information point and will be officially opened on February 21.

The official opening will mark the end of an 18-month process to give the box a fresh community purpose.

Scratby parish councillors Peter Holley and Kathryn Wendt were behind the project and they had used a grant from the Lottery Community Funding pot to finance it.

As well as books to burrow the box will hold information on what is going on in the parish, such as events and meetings.

The red phone box will be officially opened later in the month (Image: Peter Holley)

Both councillors said they were "ecstatic" as the box was lifted into the place, to mark the culmination of all their work.

Mr Holley said: "The library will be a focal point of the village and together with the benches it will be an area where people can sit a while, have a chat and share books."

On February 21 local crime writer Heather Peck will officially open the box at 11am. 

Her first novel, Secret Places, introduced police detective Greg Geldard and a crime which took him from Yorkshire to the Norfolk Broads. She has written two more in the series.

Peter Holley and Kathryn Wendt with the refurbished red phone box (Image: Peter Holley)

In the late 19th century the telephone box came into being in the country.

There was a huge variety of designs - and it was not until 1921 that standardised kiosk was introduced.

Red is the colour of the Post Office, which in a former guise had run them.