Glasgow is UK capital of mobile theft

Glasgow has been named the mobile phone theft capital of the UK, with almost a third (31 per cent) of Glaswegians claiming they've been a victim of theft.

Mobile phone users are already aware that they need to try and protect themselves against theft, but those heading for certain cities need to be even more cautious, according to new research from insurer CPP.

Belfast is the second worst place when it comes to mobile phone crime, with 29 per cent of residents becoming robbers' prey, with one in 10 victims having their phones or bags taken from their in the street.

Liverpool came third in the poll of 3,500 people, with the same number of victims as Belfast, followed by Chelmsford (25 per cent), London (24 per cent), Bristol (23 per cent), Manchester (21 per cent), Leeds (21 per cent), Sheffield (19 per cent) and Cambridge (19 per cent).

"It's alarming how common mobile theft is becoming. A recent study from the Metropolitan Police revealed as many as 10,000 mobile phones are stolen every month," said John Walkley, head of mobile phone security at CPP Phonesafe.

"Most people rarely leave home without their mobile phone, so it's vital to always be on guard for opportunists - especially if you are talking on the phone whilst walking in the street, or have it on show in a pub or club. The study also showed almost two thirds of people in the UK fail to insure their mobile phone despite the fact that the average handset would cost more than £200 to replace and airtime abuse can run into several hundreds of pounds."

Aberdeen and Norwich came out top as the cities with the fewest incidents of mobile phone theft, according to CPP, but the reasons behind their lack of mobile crime were not given.

Many police forces and mobile players are already trying to do their bit to up the anti in the fight against mobile crime.

Last year, 3, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone backed a Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum (MICAF) charter and pledged to block 80 per cent of stolen mobiles within 48 hours of theft.

But it's not just mobile phones that are the target of criminals' attention. According to figures from York Police, around 12 sat nav devices are stolen from cars every day.

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