Moped gangs are pocketing £2,000 an hour snatching phones from people on the street, police revealed in May as they warned it is no longer safe to walk and talk on your mobile.
As officers battle an epidemic of moped muggings, police are now warning the public not to stand on a kerb or street corner with their phone in their hand or risk having it torn from their grasp by thugs who can sell on a single handset for £100.
Up to 50,000 offences a year are being committed by thieves on scooters and mopeds in the capital, while some teenage thieves are being arrested up to 80 times but not sent to jail.
Most of the muggings are committed by gangs on stolen vehicles and officers have seen a spike in moped thefts which has rocketed by 41 per cent in the last 12 months.
Now police are warning it is dangerous to get your phone out in public and they are advising pedestrians to use hands free headsets instead to deter criminals.
Scotland Yard superintendent Mark Payne claimed that moped muggers are snatching 20 phones an hour.
The robbers, who usually operate with a pillion passenger, are capable of recognising a mobile phone in a target’s pocket from 30 metres away.
They even practise with friends to perfect their crime before going out on the streets to steal. By REBECCA CAMBER for the Daily Mail