THEY were once an iconic presence of the high street, in the days before the power of instant communication arrived at everyone's fingertips.

But now the end could be looming for Scotland's pay phones after BT revealed it has earmarked hundreds for removal thanks to the popularity of smartphones.

The UK's jaunty red phone boxes are famous around the world, but few now remain and their modern counterparts have fallen into disuse now that most people have a phone in their pocket.

The firm says payphone usage has declined by more than 90 per cent over the last decade, with hundreds of payphones being used less than five times a year.

Around a third of those still in use have now been earmarked for the chop, leaving just 3,300 operational phone boxes north of the border - fewer than half the 6,962 tally of 2003.

But while the move may make sense from an accountant's point of view, there are those that say the phone box is worth preserving.

Peter McCormack is museums development officer at East Dunbartonshire Leisure and Culture Trust, who keep a red phone box among the collection at the Auld Kirk Museum.

The payphone was made at the Lion Foundry in Kirkintilloch,one of six sites in the UK to construct the familiar boxes.

He said: “Unfortunately due to the rise of the mobile phones I think phone boxes are on way out. The decline in phone boxes has been on cards for a while, very few people use them anymore.

“It would be good to hold on to the telephone box and to have them in working order. They are a design classic. They don’t need to keep them all but it would be good to keep one in each town as a reminder.”

The move has also raised concerns in some remote areas where mobile phone signal is patchy and phone boxes can be lifeline.

More than 600 payphones are facing removal in the largely rural areas of Dumfries and Galloway, the Borders, Fife, the Highlands and Aberdeenshire.

However BT said they would ask local councils for permission to remove phones where there was no other payphone within 400m (437yds).

If it receives objections from the local authority, the payphone will not be taken away.

Notices have been put up in 1,500 payphones, warning that they could be removed. Among those facing removal are 104 in the Scottish Borders.

Local MSP John Lamont said those in remote areas of his constituency provided a valuable, and sometimes lifesaving, service.

"These phone boxes provide a lifeline for many rural communities, both for visitors and the people who live there," he said.

"While their usage has inevitably fallen it remains vital to many local communities to continue to have access to a phone box where mobile phone reception is patchy or non-existent, and for those who choose not to have a landline.

"In an emergency, the closure of these payphones could cause real problems."

He urged residents who were worried about the plans to contact the local council.

"The key to keeping them lies with Scottish Borders Council's reaction to these plans." he said.

"Anyone who shares my concern must send the council the clear message that our phone boxes are important and should be safeguarded."

BT are promoting their Adopt a Kiosk scheme, whereby councils or charities can "buy" a kiosk for £1.

About 155 red phone boxes have been adopted by communities in Scotland - some are used to store defibrillators, while others are used as tiny art galleries or libraries.

A spokeswoman said: "BT is committed to providing a public payphone service, but with usage declining by over 90% in the last decade, we've continued to review and remove payphones which are no longer needed.

"Any removal of payphones is carried out in strict adherence to the Ofcom guidelines and, where appropriate, with the consent of local authorities."