No audio through EarPods

Hello,

I have a pair of genuine wired EarPods. Came with the IPhone 11, bought directly from a major retailer. It’s worked fine since I got it and today (25/02/22), i plugged it into my phone and a strange message popped up - ‘Is this lightning cable connecting a pair of headphones?’. See pic below.

I selected ‘headphones’ and now the audio does not come through the EarPods.

I have switched the phone off and on and still nothing.

I tried an iPhone 13 and the same message popped up. This time I selected ‘other device’. Same thing happened - sound is gone.

Would appreciate if someone can advice how to resolve this pls as I do not wish to shell out more money buying yet another Apple accessory which seems to be the perpetual trend with Apple. Thanks