To be despairing over 10 year old's screen addiction!!

I have two ds, 11 and 8 and they have a tablet each, BUT they live in my bedroom and they get an hour a day once they log on and it automatically turns itself off after an hour. They usually have a little bit in the morning, but have to read until 7am, so there's no getting up early for it, and then a bit after school.
Be a parent, and parent, you are not his friend, it's your job to be the bad guy sometimes in order to actually be the good guy!
Make sure there are lots of other options; books, paints, airfix modelling, lego, making stuff out of cardboard, going to the park etc

My ten year old loves his phone and screen time, gaming etc, we don’t have too many rules but we do have some that I enforce!

First one is no one is allowed phones at mealtimes- no exceptions. Start with this one. He absolutely has to come and sit at the table, phone away until everyone has finished.

Second one is his phone doesn’t come with us on trips out- he is too young! He doesn’t need it, it stays at home!

He does plenty of after school activities so that he doesn’t actually have that long on school days with time to play/watch stuff.

With respect, you’ve described it as an addiction. You are right to do so.

if this was an addiction to drugs or alcohol would you still just want to cut back a bit with no drama. No, obviously.
this is no different, he needs cold turkey

I just want to gradually cut it back and wean him off it without it being a massive drama

This just isn't possible. Reducing the amount of screen time is going to result in a massive drama as he won't want to give it up or reduce what he's become used to having. You can't fix this without tantrums or causing some arguments, as he's going to try and stamp his feet, and get what he wants.

My advice is get rid of the phone, and when you consider reintroducing it then do so with new rules in place, such as limited screen time / no phone in his bedroom and make sure there are consequences if he doesn't follow the new rules.

Why does he have a phone?

How about: no phone at mealtimes. No phone in bedrooms overnight or for an hour before bedtime. Maybe that would be a good place to start?

What year is he in?
I think kids dont need a phone til they're in high school

We were in a similar position. I still allow telly but we hid the laptop.
I hit rock bottom in half term when I realised that they hadn't opened the curtains to a sunny day,

Ditch the phone. A 10 year old does not need a phone. He can use a tablet/ipad instead, and put some time limits on it so it automatically switches off.

I have a 10 year old who would happily spend all day in front of a screen too, so I do sympathise. DS knows he has to ask to go on it and I am the only one who knows the pass code, so he can't go on it whenever he wants. You need to put some boundaries and controls in place.

Does he have his phone in his bedroom or is it in communal areas? I would try to not have it in his room, and certainly it stays downstairs overnight. DS’s first phone was quite old and had to be charged every night so we just always had it downstairs naturally, so no big deal. HTH

I would go cold turkey. It will be painful but you need to grit your teeth. Then once he’s used to it you could allow shorter amounts. Set up a screen time app. Do it now as a reset before he actually needs a phone in a few years.

You’re not alone. Wish I had solutions!