POLICE are warning mobile phone thieves that the devices are useless once stolen, after more than 100 thefts were reported in one area.

Easington police say 113 phones were stolen in their area between September and the end of February.

In separate incidents in Horden and Peterlee town centres last week, two teenagers were threatened and made to hand over their phones.

But thanks to a database created by the mobile phone industry last year, stolen handsets can now be barred across all networks. Not even changing the sim-card can make it work.

Easington crime manager, Detective Chief Inspector Brian Tait, said: "These days, it is a complete waste of time stealing a mobile phone, because it will be quickly disabled by the networks, making it useless.

"But we are still seeing street robberies and thefts, because the thieves mistakenly believe there is a market for the latest models.

"They do not realise that as soon as a phone is reported stolen to us, we inform the relevant operator."