When we have some time to kill if we are out and about many of us will pop into a cafe to sit and read the paper whilst enjoying a nice, warm latte. Some of us however, go into a cafe and spent extraordinary amounts of time surfing the web, reading a novel or chatting to friends over a cup of coffee that was ordered over two hours ago.

To combat this common problem for cafe owners Ziberblat, a Russian coffee chain in London has come up with the idea where “everything is free inside except the time you spend there.” Basically, customers pay a cover charge at the door which works out to about 5p per minute and can drink all the coffee they want.

Guests can also get stuck into the complimentary snacks (biscuits, fruit, vegetables), or prepare their own food in the kitchen; they can help themselves to coffee from the professional machine, or have it made for them.

Speaking about how the new idea has gone over with customers in the London shop, owner Ivan Mitin said “It’s funny to see people queueing here to wash their dishes. It’s not obligatory, but it’s appreciated. They even wash each other’s dishes. It’s very social. We think of our guests as micro tenants, all sharing the same space.”