AFTER a particularly unpleasant experience in a Cirencester coffee shop which I shall not name, I have come to the conclusion that mobile phones should be banned in public.

I was sitting there, enjoying my Americano (no milk), when a young man came in and sat at the table next to me and began using his phone. It was most disturbing for me and my dog Alan, who was trying to sleep inside my rucksack.The young man in question was looking at the screen and, human nature being what it is, I couldn’t help but look too, over his shoulder. This was very distracting for me as I was in the middle of wrestling with a very tricky crossword (a 9 letter word for ‘joyful’ anyone?).

Then he started to type. Oh, the noise! Click, click, click. Alan’s ears pricked up as my rage did too. It was excruciating. Mobile phones are nothing but a nuisance – noisy calls, people not looking where they’re going as they stare at the screen, typing noisily! Why do people need a mobile phone, anyway? Who is calling them? Nobody calls me. These mobile phones should only be used in the home or, at most, the car (hands free).

Let’s ban them in public.

BARRY FONDLE

Cirencester