MOBILE phone theft costs the UK é390 million a year, with a phone stolen every 12 seconds, figures showed today.

Around 37 million Britons currently own a mobile phone, but more than two million people have their phone taken every 12 months, according to Halifax Home Insurance.

The group, which analysed its insurance claims data, said Lancaster was the top hotspot for mobile phone theft, followed by Wirral, Chester and Coventry.

Ipswich is the safest place to have a mobile with the fewest number of phones stolen there, followed by High Wycombe and Oxford.

Claim

The most expensive phones were stolen in Romford and Ilford in Essex, where the average claim was for é300, double the national average of é150.

Vicky Emmott, of Halifax Home Insurance, said: "Mobile phones are constantly getting lighter and more compact, which makes them easier for opportunistic thieves to swipe. Phone users should avoid walking and talking and keep their mobiles out of sight whenever possible."

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