A MOBILE phone crime prevention campaign aimed at schoolchildren has been launched by the Metropolitan police.

Posters are being put up and school liaison officers are visiting secondary schools to give advice on how to prevent mobile phones being stolen.

The campaign has been launched in response to a continued rise in mobile phone thefts.

In half of all London's street robberies, a mobile phone is stolen, and in two thirds of all those, a mobile phone ends up being the only item taken. Fourteen to 17-year-olds are the most likely to be victims of street crime.

Superintendent Archie Torrance of Westminster police said: "The MPS takes street robbery very seriously and this year we have arrested 20 per cent more street robbers compared to last year."

People are being encouraged to record their unique IMEI number for their mobile phones which can obtained by pressing *#06# on the phone.

November 15, 2001 11:50