Bar blocks mobile phone signal to try and make people talk to each other

'I want people to socialise with the people they are with, rather than the people they are not with'

Steve Tyler, of the Gin Tub in Hove, Sussex, installed a Faraday cage to block mobile phone signals (Gin Tub)

A gin bar has installed a "Faraday cage" to block mobile phone signals in an effort to encourage customers to interact with each other rather than their phones.

Steve Tyler, of the Gin Tub in Hove, Sussex, installed silver foil in the walls and copper wire mash in the ceiling of the bar to keep mobile phone signals out.

Mr Tyler said he was tired of people coming in to the bar and not socialising.

"I want people to socialise with the people they are with, rather than the people they are not with," he told the BBC.

"I took the bold decision by not blocking the signal with a jammer but doing as best as I could with a Faraday cage and make people talk to each other, and to be honest it has worked very well."

Mr Tyler told Sky News how he built the Faraday cage: "So basically we built a Faraday cage. A Faraday cage is a tin box that prevents signals from coming in."

"It's silver foil in the walls and it's copper mesh. And it's not the perfect system, it's not military grade," he added.

He also plans to make a mobile phone area outside the bar, similar to a smoking area.

"I've had one complaint from a customer, and it was that she got a signal," Mr Tyler added. "We moved her to another table."