Police advise on how to stop your phone being swiped by moped thieves

London's Metropolitan Police had advised mobile phone users to stand close to buildings to make calls, go hands-free where possible and not to walk and text, as mobile phone thefts in the capital hit 91,000 last year.

New figures from the Met Police show a phone is stolen every six minutes in London – for a total of 248 mobiles snatched per day.

"Thousands of mobile phones are stolen in London every year, most commonly through pickpocketing, table surfing, and more recently an increase in snatches by criminals riding on mopeds," a Met Police spokesperson said.

"Mobile phones are commonly the most stolen items because they are easy to snatch from victims hands as they look at their phones as they travel around London for varied reasons – for example to look at directions, texting etc and they are unaware of their surroundings. They are a valuable commodity and easily disposable to handlers for sale out of the UK."

Police have faced criticism over their handling of mobile phone thefts, as figures show fewer than 2,000 of the devices were returned to their owner, prompting questions over how the crime is policed.

A Met Police spokesperson explained: "The recovery of phones is difficult as those stealing them pass them on to be sold very quickly."

Chief Inspector Andy Cooke told BBC's Today Programme: "On a recent inspection that we did in relation to volume crime – burglary, robbery and theft – it was quite apparent that policing didn't always make the most of the opportunities it had to catch those responsible for it.

Read more: Mobile phone reported stolen in London every six minutes

"What we found on our most recent inspection was that from the first point of contact, when the first time the call was coming in, opportunities weren't being taken firstly to secure forensic evidence and, secondly, to give good crime prevention advice.

"Moving on from there, the investigations themselves were not always timely, so that golden hour of opportunity to preserve the forensic evidence was missed."

Watch: London moped thieves steal phones from hands of lone unsuspecting commuters

While police urged victims of mobile phone theft to call 999 to report the crime, they also issued advice to phone users to "look up, look out to make yourself less vulnerable to personal robbery".

"If you need to call or use your phone on the street, look out for anyone on a bike or a moped near you. Look up, look out," the advice said.

"Make it quick so you don't become distracted, don't text while you're walking – you won't notice what's going on around you.

"If that's not possible, stand away from the roadside, close to a building or wall, so no one can come up behind you," it added, also suggesting going hands-free to prevent phones being snatched from users' hands.