Editing BT Tower (section)

==Secrecy==
[[File:Post Office tower secrecy flyer 1978.jpg|thumb|upright|A flyer distributed in advance of a demonstration on 1 May 1978 in support of the defendants in the [[ABC trial]]]]

Information about the tower was designated an [[Official Secrets Act|official secret]] and in 1978, journalist [[Duncan Campbell (journalist, born 1952)|Duncan Campbell]] was [[ABC trial|tried]] for collecting information about such locations. The judge ordered the tower could only be referred to as 'Location 23'.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grant |first=Thomas |title=Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories |publisher=John Murray |year=2015 |page=315}}</ref>

It is often said that the tower did not appear on [[Ordnance Survey]] maps, despite being a {{convert|177|m|adj=on}} tall structure in the middle of central London that had been open to the public.<ref>{{Cite web |title=London Telecom Tower, formerly BT Tower and Post Office Tower, Fitzrovia, West End, London |url=http://www.urban75.org/london/telecom.html |access-date=19 November 2014 |publisher=urban75 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108125429/http://www.urban75.org/london/telecom.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, this is incorrect; the 1971 1:25,000 and 1981 1:10,000 Ordnance Survey maps show the tower<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kennett |first=Paul |date=August 2016 |title=Not so secret tower |journal=Sheetlines |publisher=The Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps |issue=106 |page=27}} ([http://www.charlesclosesociety.org The Charles Close Society])</ref> as does the 1984 [[Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas|London A–Z street atlas]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=A–Z London de luxe Atlas |publisher=Geographers' A–Z Map Company Ltd |year=1984 |page=59}}</ref>

In February 1993, MP [[Kate Hoey]] used the tower as an example of trivia being kept secret, and joked that she hoped [[parliamentary privilege]] allowed her to confirm that the tower existed and to state its street address.<ref>{{cite hansard |title=Column 634 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1993-02-19/Debate-5.html |house=House of Commons |date=19 February 1993 }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807071423/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1993-02-19/Debate-5.html |date=7 August 2017 }}</ref>