Approval for tiny charity shop in Norwich red phone box

Norwich City Council has given permission for one of the Grade II listed telephone kiosks in Tombland to be converted into a tiny retail unit selling secondhand clothing and items.

It is the latest in a series of novel ideas for the pair of disconnected traditional boxes which are no longer needed to make calls.

The plan would see side of phone kiosk slide out to create clothing rails (Image: Redhead Architects)

The adjacent vintage box is now the UK’s smallest off licence after being taken over by local real ale delivery service Beer Hatch.

It was previously occupied by Simply Cactus, which sold houseplants and specialist cacti.

The plans for the adjoining telephone-less red box say turning it into a charity retail kiosk with proceeds going to local charity Sibling Support would mean it has a “new lease of life”.

It proposes reverse hanging the kiosk door and making changes to allow one side to slide in and out to create display rails to sell clothing.

The council’s urban conservation and design advisors said “relatively minor and reversible changes to the structure and temporary changes to the appearance restricted to business hours” was not out of keeping with its listed status. 

The shop would raise funds for charity Sibling Support (Image: Redhead Architects)

Approving the change of use, planners stated: “As presented, the proposal will likely result in less than substantial harm to the established significance of the kiosks.”

Sibling Support provides help to cope with the death of a brother or sister and says extra funding from the shop would allow the charity to increase its reach and provide enhanced support.

A spokesman for the charity said the plan will also require permission from BT for the box to be decommissioned.

Last month plans to renovate the two red phone boxes on nearby St Andrews and turn them into a mini-coffee shop were withdrawn.

The adjacent kiosk has been turned into an off licence called Beer Hatch (Image: Newsquest)

The iconic K6 red phone box, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is one of Britain’s most recognisable pieces of industrial design.

Around 60,000 were installed between 1936 and 1968 and over 3,000 are now protected by Historic England.

Now largely redundant, BT has been finding new uses including offering them for community use which has seen them turned into everything from cake shops to mini museums and even tiny nightclubs.