A CAR has collided with a phone box at the bottom of Ladcastle Lane in Dobcross, Saddleworth.
The red box, a much-loved local landmark, is more than a piece of village history – it houses a life-saving defibrillator.
The incident happened on Wednesday, October 15, and left visible damage to the cast-iron structure.
The project to install defibrillators in Dobcross began back in March 2014, when Dobcross Village Community (DVC) member Alison Labrey attended a meeting to explore how the village could obtain the devices.
She secured an offer from the North West Ambulance Service, which agreed to provide two defibrillators free of charge if the DVC could raise funds to buy the heated, vandal-proof cabinets needed to house them.
BT allowed the Saddleworth Parish Council to adopt both phone boxes – one outside The Swan Inn and the other at the bottom of Ladcastle Lane – with permission for the former granted by landowners Marston’s Brewery.
A licence was drawn up at a cost of around £1,000, half of which was generously covered by Marston’s, who also supported a fundraising comedy night at The Swan by donating auction items and raffle prizes.
All profits from tickets, food, and the raffle went to the DVC’s defibrillator fund, raising an impressive £1,070 towards the installation.
The defibrillator was later fitted in 2016 by local schoolboy Teddy Royle, who, with help from his grandfather Paul Clegg, installed the equipment inside the Ladcastle Lane phone box. You can read more about that story here and about the more recent upgrade to the phone box here.
The community has long worked to preserve the phone box, recognising its importance not just as a historic feature, but as a vital part of local safety infrastructure.
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