It is believed some hotels in France and America already use similar jammers to bolster declining profits from bedside phones. Suspicions have been raised by mobile phone users reporting an inability to make calls in the vicinity of city-centre hotels.
In Britain, the jammers will have to be sold for export as their use here is prohibited.
The jammers will be marketed for about £100 from the end of this month by Ronnie McGuire, a businessman from Scotland, through a website called peaceatlast.co.uk.
Netline Communications Technologies, a Tel Aviv firm that is one of the world’s biggest producers of jammers, says it has sold hundreds to hotels in several countries.
The machines, little bigger than a cigarette packet, emit radio waves that wipe out the signal to mobile phones within a 50ft range.
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The hotel industry stands to make some of the greatest financial gains from blocking mobile calls. According to one report, profits from bedside phones have plunged 76% in four years as guests use their mobiles instead.
Jammers could also be used to restore peace to concert halls, libraries and other sites plagued by trilling mobiles.
McGuire will advise customers not to use the devices in Britain as it is illegal to jam mobile signals without a licence. Ofcom, the communications regulator, has refused to grant any such licences.
The police and security services are, however, allowed to use the blockers. They are frequently deployed if a suspicious package is found to prevent a bomb being detonated by a mobile phone. Mobiles were used to detonate the Madrid bombs that killed 202 people.
One suggestion for the jammers sold in Britain is that they could be taken on holiday to France, where they are allowed. Hidden in a bag, they could allow a tourist to enjoy a peaceful evening in a restaurant as other diners puzzle over why their mobiles are failing to work.
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McGuire objected to the ban in Britain. “The government gets millions in licence fees from the mobile phone companies and it will not take into account those people who want peace and quiet while in a restaurant,” he said.
“I will sell the devices to anyone but I will spell out that they must obtain a licence to use them (in Britain).”
He added: “If a hotel has spent £10,000 installing a telephone system, why shouldn’t it make guests use it?”
Ofcom said: “Because the sole effect of jammers is to disrupt licensed radio services, including mobile phones, we do not issue licences allowing their use.”
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Additional reporting: Gareth Walsh