STEALING mobile phones now accounts for the majority of thefts from individuals in the Wyre Forest area.

Police have seen an increase in the number of thefts of mobiles in the past two years and owners are being advised to keep their phones within view when they leave home.

Kidderminster police launched an awareness campaign and officers visited pubs and clubs in the town centre last Friday night to spread the word.

Acting Sergeant Mel Paley said: "We would ask people to take care of their phones and not to leave them unattended on tables or in coat pockets. We are currently targeting known hot spots and are working together with licensees to reduce theft.

"We are also working to identify those offenders selling stolen mobile phones and people who have purchased a phone second hand can check it to ensure it is not stolen. By pressing asterisk-hash-06-hash - *#06# - on the phone screen, it will display the serial number of the handset.

"They can then check this by taking off the rear case of the phone and comparing the serial number listed inside the battery housing. If they do not match, contact the police."

Sgt Paley said owners must register phones when they purchase them and contact the network provider, as well as the police, to report a theft. This meant that if people bought a stolen mobile, it was unlikely to work as the network provider would have blocked it and even if the SIM card was changed the handset would still be useless.

Re-programming mobile phones was an offence, which carried a jail sentence of up to five years.

Sgt Paley added police were also seeing a rise in the number of people falsely claiming their mobile phones has been stolen, when they had lost them, so they could claim on insurance or receive upgrade packages from retail outlets.

She said: "While we deal with many genuine reported thefts, we have, on isolated occasions, issued £50 fixed penalty fines to those who have lost their phone but pretended it has been stolen. We can also prosecute these matters in a criminal court.

"The message is that if people are considering making a false report, don't do it."