Frankie & Benny’s is the UK’s first family restaurant to ban mobile phones

Frankie & Benny’s becomes the UK’s first family restaurant to introduce a ban on mobile phones, requiring its customers to leave their phones in a designated ‘’no phone zone’’ box at the table with the intention of keeping it there for the entirety of their meal.

The nationwide chain’s latest move comes in the wake of new research which revealed that 72% of children wish parents would decrease the time that they spend on their phones, with a further 70% saying they thought their parents enjoyed more screen time than them.

In support of its family friendly ethos, the initiative is part of the restaurant’s ''No phone Campaign’’, which ran from from 29 November to 7 December, designed to encourage families to spend more time together without the distraction of mobile phones’’.

It’s unclear at this stage whether or not the ban will be reintroduced on a more long-term basis.