First it was public transport, then came the Post Offices and now it looks as though many rural communities will be left without their phone-boxes as BT prepares to axe almost 900 kiosks across the West.

The worst hit areas are South Somerset and West Dorset where almost 150 pay-phones are set to go.

But they won't disappear without a fight as councils attempt to save what they call a lifeline for rural residents. Telecom giant BT claims the mobile phone revolution means pay-phones no longer pay their way.

It is looking to close more than 7,000 kiosks across England, which it says could save the company up to £1 million a year in maintenance costs.

A letter sent to councils reads: "In recent years the needs of consumers have changed drastically with the increase in mobile phone ownership leading to a complete change in the communications culture throughout the UK; the number of calls made from BT pay-phones has more than halved in the last three years."

It suggested 99 per cent of homes now had a phone which meant the company had to re-align its pay-phone provision.

Despite this, some boxes earmarked for closure were used to make hundreds of calls last year, including one in Peasedown St John, Somerset, which was used 1,237 times in 2007.

A spokesman for Tewkesbury Council said it was dismayed and disappointed at BT's proposals to close 27 kiosks in the area.

The spokesman said: "Irrespective of the growth in mobile phone ownership across the UK, public phone-boxes provide reassurance to residents that there are alternative means of communications available in situations of distress and emergency."

He pointed to several kiosks, including one in Broadway, which proved vital during last summer's floods as mobile phone networks became jammed.

Campaigners say pay-phones, particularly those at accident blackspots, are vital in case of emergency.

A spokesman for West Somerset Council, which is battling to save 24 pay-phones, said Exmoor National Park had areas with no mobile phone signal which meant pay-phones were the only means of summoning help.

Mark Harper, MP for the Forest of Dean which may lose 48 boxes, said: "There is a safety concern; in many rural areas there is no mobile signal and the only way to contact emergency services in remote areas will be through public phones."

Kennet District Council has objected to proposals to scrap 55 phones, including a booth near Erlestoke Prison which it says is needed by visitors and people leaving the prison. The argument was the same for North Dorset Council which was keen to see the phone box outside Guys Marsh prison, near Blandford, remain.

West Wiltshire District Council also hopes to safeguard the future of its phone booths, particularly one in Holt, near Trowbridge, where there is a large number of elderly residents.

It also highlighted the case of Broughton Gifford, which it said suffered frequent power cuts. Others, such as the pay- phone near two schools in Hungerdown Lane, Chippenham, were needed for children who did not have mobile phones.

Councillor Ross Henley, of Taunton Deane Borough Council where 42 phones are facing the chop, said: "Not everyone has a mobile phone and, in any case, reception can be poor in some areas. These telephone boxes are a public service and as many as possible should be retained."

Residents of Altringham and Lynch in Gloucestershire say their K6 style phone-boxes, built in the 1930s, are local landmarks and of historical significance. David Philips-White, manager of the Wheelwrights Arms opposite a village phone box that has been earmarked for closure, said: "It would be a shame to lose an old red box like the one in Monkton Combe when it obviously adds to the look of picturesque villages."

Swindon Borough Council, which may lose 15 phone booths, has applied to have seven of these listed by English Nature.

Justine McGuinness, a West Dorset Liberal Democrat, is fighting to save one of 71 pay-phones earmarked for closure.

She said: "Following the loss of the post office and shop in Nettlecombe, the loss of phone-boxes would be a disaster. This is the one service the village still has."

Almost 40 of the boxes under review are outside post offices. Several of these are in villages which have already lost their post offices, such as Barrow Gurney near Bristol and Shoscombe, near Bath.

Nigel Studdert-Kennedy, of Stroud District Council where 48 boxes are under review, said: "We all expressed our views on post office closures and look what happened. My worry is that post boxes will be next… and what then?" Despite the 875 proposed closures across the rural West, it seems that Bristolians will not lose any of their phone kiosks as the city council says it has not yet been approached by BT.

As the consultation with all other local councils comes to an end, BT says it will spend the next few weeks collating the responses before making a final decision.

The full list of boxes which will be removed is expected in the autumn.