E-bike bandits are fuelling a surge in smartphone thefts, with one device stolen every six minutes across Britain.
There were nearly 84,000 phone theft offences recorded in the 12 months to July last year — nearly double the 45,800 five years previously.
It comes as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vowed a crackdown on e-bike thefts and more powers to police to deal with the problem.
She said it was ‘totally unacceptable’ for people to feel unsafe walking the streets.
Ms Cooper has also called on tech companies including Apple, Google and Samsung to improve mobile device security measures.
The data from 29 police forces, which were obtained by The Independent, show London’s Metropolitan Police dealt with more than three-quarters of all mobile phone thefts, with more than 64,000 last year.
This was followed by Kent Police and South Yorkshire Police at 1,722 and 1,577 cases, respectively.
The Met and City of London also recorded nearly 12,500 robbery offences, such as muggings, for phones in the 12-month period to July last year — up from nearly 12,000 five years previously.
Victims include Labour MP Chris Webb, who in November last year had his phone nicked while on his way back to his London flat.
On Wednesday, Scotland Yard said more than 1,000 stolen phones were seized and 230 people arrested in a week-long blitz as Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley fights back against London’s phone theft epidemic.
But Inspector Dan Green said the rise in the use of illegally-modified e-bikes by organised gangs was making their work challenging.
‘Anywhere you go in London, anywhere, you see people on their phones,’ he said. ‘I think [the thieves] just come in and chance their arm and if they get three or four phones, that’s a lot of cash to be had.’
Users and detectives have found stolen phones in locations as far away as northern Africa, Dubai and China.
The Bike Association said that there are around 550,000 e-bikes in the UK.
However, many riders have had their bikes modified to achieve speeds of up to 70mph, with conversion kits available online for as little as £300.
As a result, forces across the UK confiscated 937 illegally-modified e-bikes in 2023/24, just less than double in the previous 12 months.