Say goodbye to embarrassing drunken phone call misery

It's Friday night, and you're set for a night on the town. Deep down, your still-functioning common sense tells you that, after too much refreshment, you may well ring your ex-partner or boss on your mobile and tell them exactly what you think of them.

It's Friday night, and you're set for a night on the town. Deep down, your still-functioning common sense tells you that, after too much refreshment, you may well ring your ex-partner or boss on your mobile and tell them exactly what you think of them.

Help is at hand. A new service aimed at drunken mobile phone users will block numbers of ex-lovers and bosses, or anyone upon whom you may be tempted to inflict your new lack of verbal inhibition. You dial 333, followed by the number you wish to bar, and are then prevented from unleashing an embarrassing tirade until morning.

Virgin Mobile's service, Dialling Under the Influence, was introduced after a survey found that, of the calls people made when drunk, 30 per cent were to ex-partners.