A pub in Somerset has decided to ban mobile phones as the government prepares to send out an emergency text alert to the entire UK population.
The UK-wide message will be issued at 3pm on April 23 to all mobile phones that do not opt-out and will feature a loud siren noise and vibration.
A message will also display on the home screen of phones.
However, The Camelot pub near Yeovil has requested that customers leave their phones at the door on the day of the alert to minimise distraction for those enjoying their Sunday roasts, reports Somerset Live.
A statement from the pub reads: "The Camelot is requesting all customers to leave their mobile phones at home if they are coming to the pub. We have all heard the alert on various news channels and we feel very strongly that we don’t want the alarm system to spoil the enjoyment of customers coming for our legendary roast lunches.
"If customers feel strongly about bringing their phones then we kindly request you turn them off while in the pub before the alarm goes off at 3pm. Any customer who does have an alarm go off will be asked to pop a large donation into our charity box. This month our chosen charity is The Alzheimer’s Society.
"We are really sorry if this offends some customers. As we have all had the chance to hear the alarm we don’t feel it’s necessary to have it intrude our lives on a Sunday here."
If you want to opt-out of receiving the alert, you can head to your phone settings, search for "emergency alerts", and turn off "severe alerts" and "extreme alerts".
Meanwhile, motorists have been warned not to switch off their phones when driving on the day of the alert, as it is against the law.
James Armstrong of car insurance provider Veygo told the Daily Record that touching your phone could put you in violation of rule 149 of the Highway Code.
The rule specifies that it is against the law to use a hand-held device such as a phone or sat-nav while driving and could result in the motorist being slapped with a £200 fine and up to six penalty points.
Drivers could even be taken to court and banned from driving or fined up to £1,000.
The UK Government advice states: "You should not read or otherwise respond to an emergency alert whilst driving or riding a motorcycle."
It continues: "If you are driving, you should continue to drive and not respond to the noise or attempt to pick up the mobile phone and deal with the message. Find somewhere safe and legal to stop before reading the message.
"If there is nowhere safe or legal to stop close by, and nobody else is in the vehicle to read the alert, tune into live radio and wait for bulletins until you can find somewhere safe and legal to stop."
