Public phone charging units are being considered for the streets of Kensington and Chelsea.

A council planning applications committee is set to hear requests to remove existing BT phone boxes and replace them with InLink interactive units around the royal borough.

The units can also be used to access WiFi and get details of council services.

They will replace BT's existing phone boxes, and will not replace the traditional red phone boxes.

You would be able to charge your phone in the street

The applicant, BT, has prior permission to install the communications devices around the UK.

The planning committee is tasked with considering the sites BT has requested, and the appearance of the units, which the telecommunications giant wants to feature advertising on.

Recommendations to the committee about where the InLinks would be located are varied and some have drawn objections from the public.

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The planning officers noted there are fewer InLink units proposed than the number of BT phone boxes they would be replacing, so their installation could reduce "clutter" in the street scape.

However, the officers recommended some sites be refused, as people using the console could get in the way of foot traffic on narrow pavements.

Public objections to one proposed site for an InLink included that it could attract crowds waiting to use it who would get in the way of foot traffic, and that it would add advertising clutter and light pollution to the street scape.

The InLink units offer free Wi-Fi, calls to national, mobile and emergency numbers, as well as rapid phone charging.

What the units look like

They also feature touch tablets for local search and phone book information, and would provide a Kensington and Chelsea council web app on its tablet screen so users can browse the authority's website and services.

They are designed to dim and work with a lower volume at night to decrease disturbance to neighbourhoods.

The units are being launched first in London then will extend to the rest of the UK, with at least 750 InLinks set to be installed over the coming years.

The committee is set to decide on whether to accept the applications for the sites BT wants at a hearing on Tuesday evening (May 15).