Wetherspoons pubs ban playing music or taking calls on phone speakers

Chain tells customers to ‘pipe down’ and use earphones instead, calling its venues ‘an oasis of tranquillity’

The pub chain Wetherspoons has banned customers from playing music or taking calls on speaker after growing complaints about the noise.

The company announced it had introduced the ban across its 792 pubs, saying sounds from smartphones and tablet computers had become an “increasing problem in recent years”.

The firm said in a statement: “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.”

Wetherspoons’ chair and founder, Tim Martin, said: “In a world dominated by other people’s music and amplified sound, Wetherspoon pubs are an oasis of tranquillity and contemplation. In order to avoid customers being driven chicken jalfrezi by a cacophony of sound, we are kindly asking phone users to pipe down.”

The Liberal Democrats have previously called for fines of up to £1,000 for “headphone dodgers” who play music out loud on buses and trains.

A YouGov poll last year suggested 62% of people would back the Lib Dem move and 28% were opposed. The poll of 6,815 British adults found almost three-quarters of pensioners would support the fines, while people aged 18-24 were split 47-43 in favour.

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, rolled out a campaign last year encouraging people to use headphones when playing music on the city’s transport network.