A telephone apparatus comprises a body part (601) and a sleeve-like grip part (602) mounted to the body part (601) for longitudinal slidable movement between a retracted position and an extended position. Mechanically coupled to the body part (601) and the grip part (602) there is a spring (700, 1203) for effecting the longitudinal slidable movement. A locking mechanism (1004, 1006, 1007) is provided for detachably locking the body part and the grip part into the retracted position. There is also a user-actuatable releasing actuator (1005) for releasing the locking mechanism. The releasing actuator (1005) is located within the grip part (602).