More than 150 people have signed a petition in opposition to plans for BT street hubs across the city centre.

The five hubs will replace the more traditional phone boxes, which have been in the city for decades.

As well as having device charging, free emergency calls and air quality monitoring, they will also have two adverts on each hub.

George Prest, Lib Dem campaigner in St Michael Ward, said: “BT’s plans have created a wave of ill-feeling amongst shopkeepers and local residents.

“BT put in this planning application just before Christmas, when they hoped no-one would be paying attention. These screens are nothing more than a Trojan horse, to inflict digital advertising on the residents of Winchester and the city’s thousands of annual visitors.

“Anyone who looks at the mock-ups that BT have submitted can see that these screens are ugly, will block pedestrian flow, waste valuable energy resources and are out of keeping with our historic town centre.

“Listening to people on the High Street and on social media, talking to shopkeepers and residents on the doorstep, it became apparent that these street hubs have aroused strong opposition and we need a way of taking that feeling to the council.”

Nathan Eve, a Lib Dem campaigner from St Bartholomew Ward, said: “This is yet another example of the corporatisation of the High Street and in an age of hyper-connectivity, 5G and smartphones, even the technology that BT claims the Street Hubs will bring seems unnecessary and redundant.”

READ MORE: Concern over plans for five BT Street Hubs across Winchester

The street hubs are planned for 3 Jewry Street (outside Mr So), 152 High Street (outside Chococo), 125 High Street (outside Vodafone), 108-109 High Street (outside O2) and 71 St George's Street (outside Primark).

Hampshire Chronicle:

A BT spokesperson previously said: “We believe Winchester would benefit from the improved functionality offered by Street Hubs including free ultra-fast WiFi, rapid device charging and the potential for enhanced mobile connectivity.

“Street Hubs also take up less space on high streets than traditional payphones and can provide further benefits such as air quality monitoring for local authorities.”

On February 9, the plans had more than 100 objections.

Paul Spencer, executive director of Winchester BID, said: “The BT Street Hubs will take away pavement space from pedestrians and create an obstacle, adding unnecessary street clutter. They will detract negatively from the historic street scene and the LED advertising screens will have an adverse visual impact on the historic environment of the city centre. Concerns were also raised with our team about the size of the BT Street Hubs in the proposed locations and site lines being blocked.”

For more about the petition, visit: winld.org.uk/hubs.