It's good to talk - but not in front of the altar

You may not be a member of the board of the lottery company Camelot, but there is an easy way to make yourself just as unpopular, according to research carried out in London: use a mobile phone in the Barbican Art Gallery or St Paul's Cathedral.

Pulling out a handheld phone in those locations, and others such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, will earn a rapid reprimand from those around you, and free directions to the exit from security guards if you persist.

Yet Harrods, the department store which last week asked a woman wearing leggings to leave, appears happy to tolerate mobile phone users - despite the presence of large signs on its windows saying "No mobile phones".

The contradiction was turned up by Jim Pickard, a journalist who "set out to make a pest of himself" by using a mobile phone all over the capital, as part of a survey for What Mobile? magazine. The outcome is reported in next month's issue.

"I wasn't looking forward to it but found it was quite easy to be obnoxious, especially once people started giving me dirty looks," he said.

Mr Pickard found that speaking in a loud voice into a mobile near a Gauguin painting in the Barbican Art Gallery was a good way to attract attention - from a security guard, who said there had been complaints. The response was even faster in the Whispering Gallery in St Paul's: "It took about three seconds - I had my phone out but hadn't even dialled a number," he said. "There's plenty of noise from loud-mouthed tourists. I didn't think anyone would notice when I started shouting down my phone." However, two nuns and a security guard did, and told him to stop.

However, inside Harrods, the Barbican Library, and the Natural History Museum, nobody complained (though in the library Mr Pickard reported "blistering looks" from readers). Afterwards Mr Pickard said: "I was surprised: some places just ignored me. In Harrods, nobody batted an eyelid."

A growing number of organisations are trying to offer mobile-free areas. The Great Western rail company has classed one carriage per train a mobile- free zone, and an increasing number of pubs and restaurants discourage their use. They may not be used within the House of Commons. Last week, the use of handheld mobile phones in cars was blamed for a growing number of traffic accidents by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

Their unpopularity may be down to their one-way nature, suggests Mr Pickard. "I think they're only annoying because it's a mobile," he said. "If you were talking to somebody beside you, people would be quite happy to eavesdrop."

Simon Rockman, editor of What Mobile?, said: "We extend our apologies to anyone who found us really obnoxious. We found that there was a surprising amount of tolerance to the mobile phone.

"We naturally encourage their use and believe that it should not be restricted in public places. It is up to the individual to decide where he or she sees fit to make or receive a phone call."