Samuel Smith's pubs in Greater Manchester have been told to stop customers from using mobile phones.

Humphrey Smith, owner of the brewery which has more than 200 establishments, sent a memo to managers ordering them to prevent customers from using devices inside the premises.

Instead punters must go outside to make or receive calls "in the same way as is required with smoking", the memo said.

The ban also applies to laptops, tablets and iPads, which cannot be used inside or outside.

The new rules say customers are not allowed to "receive transmitted pictures of sport or download music apps".

"The brewery's policy is that out pubs are for social conversation person to person," it concluded.

The memo, dated March 25 and headed 'Mobile phones and other transmission equipment', was on display to customers in a pub in Rochdale.

Sinclair's Oyster Bar in Manchester also confirmed the new rules came into force on March 28.

Tadcaster-based Samuel Smith's said it would not comment on the new policy or the memo.

The pub chain has a reputation for unconventional rules.

Pubs are not allowed to play music or televisions, while there is also a zero tolerance on swearing.

These policies were introduced in order to ensure the brewery maintained a "traditional, uncompromisingly Victorian aesthetic".

Mr Smith isn't the first pub owner to fight back against the proliferation of technology.

In 2009 the landlord of the Court Inn in Durham stopped drinkers from using mobile phones as part of a crackdown on 'antisocial customers'.

Then in 2016 Brighton bar The Gin Tub tried to prevent customers using their mobile phones while Beefeater introduced “no phone zones” in its restaurants for Mother’s Day.

Last year Frankie and Benny’s became the first family restaurant in the UK to implement a ban on mobile phones.