Wetherspoons tells drinkers to put their phones on silent in all 792 pubs

The new rules affecting every Wetherspoons

Signs have gone up in every venue asking punters to use headphones or mute their devices, the Mirror reported on Monday.

The rules follow complaints from drinkers about amplified phone conversations and videos.

Wetherspoons has never played music in its pubs, the exception being the 44 of its 792 sites that trade as Lloyds, where music is played at certain times, so the new signs are aimed squarely at what customers bring in on their own devices.

Why Wetherspoons is asking drinkers to pipe down

"An increasing problem in recent years relates to smartphones and iPads, which are used for videos or telephone conversations. Following complaints from customers, who are being driven nuts by other people’s videos and amplified phone conversations, Wetherspoon has asked customers to switch their phones to silent or to use earphones."

A Wetherspoons spokesperson

It is a request rather than a barring offence, and the chain has not said how the new rules will be enforced.

Drinkers after a quieter pint, meanwhile, can pass the time working out what the number on a pint glass actually means or lose an hour to a game that makes you guess a UK location from its nearest Wetherspoons.