Thieves on two wheels stealing 30 mobile phones a day

 Thieves riding mopeds and pedal bikes are snatching more than 30 cell phones a day from unsuspecting victims in the capital, figures show.

The number of mobile phones being stolen by moped-riding thieves has doubled to 7,041 in the past year compared with 3,210 in 2015-16.

A further 4,526 phones were taken by pedal bike riders in the past year, according to police figures obtained by the London Evening Standard under freedom of information law.

Thieves tend to target pedestrians using their phones, snatching them as they ride past. More than half of the devices stolen were iphones.

Officers say the rise in this type of robbery is partly driven by the fact that phones can be sold for their parts as well as used for criminality such as dealing drugs.

Last year, one moped-riding thief was jailed for snatching 21 phones from pedestrians in an hour. Cavell Hutson and an accomplice swerved through streets and on pavements riding a moped with number plates from another vehicle – until they were chased down by a police helicopter.