DRINKERS are being encouraged to enjoy uninterrupted conversation and pub grub by volunteering to switch off their smartphones.

Everyone knows it’s all too tempting to check oxfordmail.co.uk or Facebook and Twitter between courses.

Now Oxford-based pub chain Dodo, which runs the Rusty Bicycle in Magdalen Road, East Oxford, and The Rickety Press in Jericho, is urging its customers to take part in a phone amnesty and lock their mobiles away, in exchange for a discount off their final bill.

Leo Johnson, one of the founders of the pub company, said: “This social experiment of sorts is aimed at getting our customers to clock just how much they’re online and start talking about it. The longer they last without their phone, the bigger the discount.

“The Phone Amnesty is about starting a conversation. It’s intended to potentially bring visitors a little discomfort and to explore how it feels to embrace the awkward silences instead of turning to phones for a flick.

“We’re confident that people will overcome any social anxieties and end up having a real good time.

“By encouraging customers to seal their phones away in envelopes we hope they’ll start to realise just how often they go to pick them up.”

Launching as part of the chain’s Real Good Times initiative, the amnesty will run every Tuesday from 5pm throughout September and, if successful, it will become a regular fixture across all Dodo pubs.

Rickety Press regular Emily Hoyle, 23, a history postgraduate, backed the scheme and said she would try it out with boyfriend Jack Burden, 24.

She added: “This is a good idea - it will encourage people in pubs to be more sociable and create a better atmosphere - it can be all too tempting when you are tired to scroll through your phone instead of chatting.”

The initiative encourages customers to take time out from technology by challenging them to seal their phones away during their visit, in exchange for discounted food and drink.

Customers can start a tab and ask for an amnesty pouch and then bar staff will ask visitors to turn off their phones, before they seal them inside an envelope and hand it back.

Those who manage to resist temptation for one, two or three hours without breaking the seal will receive a five per cent, 10 per cent or 15 per cent discount off their bill respectively when they come to pay.

In support of the new campaign Dodo Pub Co has also nominated the mental health charity CALM as its charity of the year and will be working closely with them to provide all staff members with a support programme to promote wellbeing. Banbury MP Victoria Prentis has backed Scroll Free September, aimed at cutting the use of social media on phones.