Phone Throne

Chatting on your mobile phone while standing on a bench outside a public toilet would give you a reputation in most parts of Britain.

But for the 200 people who live in East Prawle, it is a perfectly normal thing to do.

Villagers can been seen queueing to use the seat outside the public conveniences on any day of the week. The bizarre routine came about after a holidaymaker discovered it was the only place in the cliff-top village where you could pick up network coverage.

Now, when residents want to make a call, they head for the bench next to the public toilets – where, if they face in a westerly direction and their luck#s in, they can just about pick up a reception.

However, now the villagers have a new problem to contend with – the bench has started to fall apart. Community leaders in the south Devon village – which boasts two pubs, a shop and a village green – have come up with a solution – to build a £100 'phone throne'.

District councillor Julian Brazil explained: 'You don't get a mobile telephone signal in East Prawle and people don't want a phone mast. People have been complaining the bench is getting broken so it has been decided to get a mounting block.'

The platform will only be of use to those on Orange Network, though – because other networks still do not work.