IS THIS the most vandalised phone box in Swindon?

The booth, at the junction of Midhurst Avenue and Welcombe Avenue, regul- arly has its coin box rifled and glass panels smashed.

And people who live close by say the vandalism could prove more than just inconvenient it could end up being a matter of life or death.

Peter Armstrong, 67, who has lived in the Park North area for 30 years and seen the phone box targeted many times, says the vandals baffle him.

"Do they realise that this phone could be a lifeline in an emergency situation?" he asked.

"They could be the ones requiring its use, with the phone their only link between life and death.

"I cannot comprehend the reasons for the vandals' actions, but perhaps a psychiatrist might."

Mr Armstrong said the attacks, which happen late at night and have cost BT as much as £400 a time to repair, could be down to too much drink.

He said that, as well as stealing coins from the box, vandals had thrown eggs at it and had also smashed all of its glass panels.

"I am sure if they really thought about it they could put their time to better use," said Mr Armstrong, a former Divisional Super- intendent with the cadet div- ision of St John Ambulance.

"I have worked with adults and youth alike over several years, and fortunately I would not class them all in the vandals category.

"There are still decent, law abiding citizens in our midst.

"But my mess- age to the vandals is the next time you feel this urge to destroy, think how you would feel of someone destroyed your personal property."

BT spokesman Les King said Mr Armstrong's fears about the potentially deadly effects of vandalism were well founded, as 15 per cent of the 25 million emergency calls made last year came from call boxes.

He said the eight attacks on the Park North box this year were part of a nationwide trend that had seen 128,000 attacks on phone boxes last year, and 1,626 people arrested for causing the damage.

And Mr King said it was customers who suffered most from the vandals' actions, as the company had no choice but to recover its £3.5 million box repair costs from them.

"The glass itself is not that expensive, but you also have to take account of the cost of calling in tradesmen to clear it up and fix it," he said.

"That's reflected in the price that people pay for the service."