A campaign by former Wanstead Society stalwart Kat Ibrahim to get BT to look after the phone box outside Wanstead Tube had a temporary victory before vandals struck again.
Though not now functioning telephonically, the iconic Giles Gilbert Scott phone box itself is listed and is one of just two left in Redbridge. A campaign in 2021 to have it restored was successful, but the kiosk was vandalised.
Following lobbying by Kat, BT re-restored the box earlier this month, and the windows have since been re-daubed by muppets. (No offence to actual Muppets.)
A sign in the window says the box could be ‘adopted’, but since it is on public ground it’s not clear that anyone except Redbridge could do this. A longer term answer is clearly needed or the box seems destined to end up at the Chigwell Road recycling centre.
Some creators must have paint left after finishing their artwork on the tube! Such vandalism is now done with impunity. Depressing.