A DEAF and partially-sighted woman from Middlesbrough made a plea yesterday for the return of her mobile phone.

Sarah Standing has been left distraught since her phone was stolen from her pocket in a town centre pub.

She hopes the thieves will return her Nokia 3200, which contains important phone numbers and precious photographs of family members and her dog, Rocky.

The 27-year-old, of Midhurst Road, in Thorntree, saved money from her disability allowance for several months to pay for the £140 phone.

But after only a month, it was taken as she sat in the Crown pub, in Linthorpe Road on Thursday night.

"I was with my friends around a table and it must have been taken between 11.30pm and midnight," she said.

Ms Standing suffers from Usher's Syndrome, an inherited recessive condition.

She was born deaf and began to lose her sight in her teens.

She used the phone regularly to contact friends via text message.

"It is the only way she can communicate with friends - it's her lifeline," said her mother, Sylvia Standing.

* Anyone with information about Sarah's phone is asked to call her mother on (01642) 210370.