Is anyone else totally hacked off by inconsiderate cellphone users?

Does the chirruping of a mobile send you into a rage? What can we do to curb cellphone intrusion?

Frankly, most cellphone use is gratuitous and wholly unnecessary. Listen to anyone on a train and tell me you don't agree.

Actually, I defy you not to listen to people on trains as they all seem hell-bent on broadcasting their private lives to the nation. Isn't Jerry Springer enough?

Cellphone use in public places is on the rise.

In its annual study last September, the Yankee Group found that 21 per cent of cell phone use was in places other than the home, car or workplace, up from 15 per cent the year before.

This means the wretched things are on the increase and the problem will almost certainly get worse.

America is leading the way with an early demand for technological etiquette. More and more US locations and public services are issuing a blanket ban on cellphone usage.

Even Amtrak pioneered silent carriages where a single electronic chirp gets the offender tossed out on HIS ear.

The train thing has now gone national in the United States. Almost all weekday trains between Washington, New York and Boston have one "quiet car".

Other suburban railways, like New York's Metro North, have been using billboards and advertising to ask cellphone users to be considerate of their fellow passengers.

People who leave phones switched on in restaurants are high on my hit-list.

I want to relax as I eat my meal but a high-pitched ringing tone, or worse, a stupid tune can put me off completely.

Several "better" restaurants have now banned cellphones entirely while others confine use to their bar area.

This makes perfect sense as anyone can be late for a lunch date and a cellphone is often the quickest way to inform your lunch partner of new arrangements. Just don't even think of taking the call in the dining room.

Probably the worst offenders are those inconsiderate blighters who leave their phones switched on in the cinema or the theatre.

Stamping on a mobile phone while it is pressed hard to its owner's ear is a clear case of justifiable homicide, if you ask me. I was not surprised to discover half the 1,300 respondents to an April survey by internet opinion researcher E-Poll wanted a complete ban on cellphones in the theatre, while only 12 per cent supported no cellphone sections in restaurants.

This week, I made a decision to stop getting grumpy with inconsiderate mobile phone users.

I am often told I have no patience but this is definitely not true because one day last week my resolution lasted more than 17 minutes into a telephonic shrieking match on the train from Victoria.

Sitting next to the woman, I was privy to both sides of her extremely explicit conversation.

I would just like to say, if you were that woman, I would dearly love to know the full story of what happened to Deborah's knickers at the five-a-side football match in Burgess Hill.

Sadly, Clayton tunnel left me with only the edited highlights. But the peace and quiet inside the tunnel was bliss.