Fire crews in the west of the island believe a fire in a former phone box, on Wednesday night, was started deliberately.

Dubbed the ’Tardis’ as it has been painted blue, the former phone box on Albany Road, Peel, is used as a community library.

A fire service spokesman said: ’It’s believed the fire was started deliberately by youths and our police colleagues are investigating.’

Fortunately the damage to the Tardis and its contents were limited to a small number of books thanks to Peel’s fire crews who were holding a drills night and were able to quickly attend the scene.

A community library is just one way that decommissioned former phone boxes have been given a new lease of life.

Others, such as those at Patrick and Dalby were converted to house defibrillators donated by Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation.