TO LOCALS you just walk past every day and ignore the red phone box in the centre of Tavistock.

But to Americans the box is an iconic symbol of the streets of the UK, therefore, an object of fascination.

For the Bridges family the phone box was a highlight of their 4,000-mile trip from their home state of Florida.

Julian Bridges brought his wife and two daughters and son to the South West to see his roots as a serviceman.

They were very enthusiastic, despite the hot weather, about the curiosity of the phone box and each took turns to have their photo taken inside and checked out that it was actually working by listening for the dial-tone.

Julian, who served at RAF St Mawgan, in Newquay, when he was in the US Navy, said: ‘We’re having a fantastic time in the UK. We went to Pymouth where I lived for a while and saw where the Pilgrim fathers departed for the New World.

‘We went to Newquay because that’s where I Served. But Tavistock is a great little place. It’s got so much history in a small area. The kids love history and were keen to read all the inscriptions in the church.

‘But, there’s nothing as cute as this phone box. The kids have only known their phones, so are really interested in why it’s here and how it works. We used to have public phones in the States, but they’ve all been ripped up and disappeared years ago. So, you could say this is living history.’