Plans for three BT street hubs have been refused by Middlesbrough Council. All three were given the boot over highway safety concerns, with two also classed as “street clutter”. Two of these hubs were also deemed likely to undermine the “safe environment”, with some of the hubs’ functions presenting opportunities for anti-social behaviour.
Cleveland Police made representations to the council on all three applications, with a police officer saying that the existing freephones; a feature of street hubs, were a “persistent nuisance”, with current town centre street hubs being described as “the centre of a series of linked incidents of violence, drug use, and anti-social behaviour”. In public view, drug users would gather and order class-A drugs from the freephone, the officer explained.
In March, BT submitted applications for four of its street hubs, alongside seeking the appropriate advertising consent. Three of these attempts have been slapped down – but one, on Acklam Road, is still awaiting a decision at the time of writing. Newport Road, Benson Street and Marton Road are the three locations where plans have been refused by council officers.
Middlesbrough already houses street hubs, including multiple on Linthorpe Road, and one on Albert Road, next to the Cleveland Centre. At the end of 2025, Middlesbrough Development Corporation (the planning authority for applications in the town centre) approved two street hubs on Corporation Road, overriding Cleveland Police concerns, while rejecting a third hub on the same street due to an increased risk of crime, as well as the hub being an obstacle and causing “unnecessary clutter”.
BT appeal
BT are appealing this MDC refusal, the company successfully appealed previous Middlesbrough Council refusal of a proposed street hub on Southfield Road, with the allowed appeal confirmed at the end of March this year. Alongside the council’s Southfield Road refusal in late 2025, the planning authority also refused BT permission to install one of their hubs on Borough Road. BT has not appealed this decision.
One of the unsuccessful March applications to the council was for a hub outside Aldi on Newport Road. Members of the police force and a council warden were strongly opposed to additional street hubs as a result of the behaviour that has occurred at existing ones, with testimony of drug dealers “dangerously” driving through the pedestrianised town centre on off-road bikes to deliver drugs, often to the site of the freephone itself. Meanwhile, “respectable” members of the public were too intimidated by “unruly gangs” to use the hubs.
As was reported earlier this year, BT said that they are working to reduce “digital inequality” with their hubs. Each street hub is said to give communities access to an “unprecedented” range of free services, such as “ultrafast” Wi-Fi, phone calls, and public messaging capabilities. The company added: “It’s also a platform for future technologies – air quality monitoring, emergency messaging, 4G /5G mobile coverage and more.”
A “small” number of locations in the UK were said to have drawn attention to “local drug issues” ; those involved are described as having misused free call services. This prompted investment to develop call restrictions first used to prevent calls to mobiles on select street hubs in problem areas, a company statement explained. It is not yet known if BT will appeal against the latest council decisions.
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