The worst streets for mobile phone theft in London's West End were revealed today with nearly 18 devices being snatched every day on Oxford Street.
Europe's busiest shopping road had 6,539 reports of phones being taken last year - ahead of Regent Street on 2,002, according to Metropolitan Police data.
Shaftsbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road in the theatre district were third and fourth with 1,032 and 946 respectively between January and December 2024.
Completing the top ten were Wardour Street on 929, Greek Street on 623, Piccadilly on 591, Old Compton Street on 507, Strand on 494 and Leicester Square on 455.
Figures showing Westminster's 'repeat streets' for mobile phone thefts have been released by Scotland Yard following a Freedom of Information request.
Former Met Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville has urged the force to do more to fight phone crime - after he nearly fell victim to a theft himself three months ago.
Mr Neville, who managed to hold onto his phone during the incident outside Charing Cross railway station, told The Standard: 'What are the Met doing?'
'It's not difficult when you actually know which roads are being targeted. Officers need to be less concerned with the psychology of crime and catch more criminals.'
'These snatchers must be laughing at the law because they know just one per cent of thefts are solved. Each of the 30 streets must have hundreds of CCTV cameras.'
'So the second thing is to actually gather images. See if they are wearing distinctive clothing - even if you can't see their faces - and link offenders to multiple offences.'
| Crime type | Mobile phones stolen in Westminster |
|---|---|
| Theft from the Person | 23,948 |
| Other Theft | 7,900 |
| Robbery | 1,672 |
| Theft from a Vehicle | 306 |
| Burglary | 150 |
| Shoplifting | 142 |
| All other crime types | 85 |
| Total mobile phones stolen in Westminster | 34,203 |
Phone theft has become an epidemic in London, hitting a record level last year - with the number of devices snatched more than tripling in four years.
Some 70,137 phones were reported stolen to the Met in the capital in 2024, up by nearly 40 per cent from 52,428 in 2023. As recently as 2020, the figure was 20,000.
Susan Hall AM, leader of the City Hall Conservative Group, told MailOnline: '6,539 thefts on Oxford Street alone is obscene.
'With the prospect of pedestrianisation looming, I've spoken to residents in Westminster who are horrified at how police cuts and pedestrianisation will only exacerbate this.
'For God's sake, Sadiq - get a grip on this and actually put the welfare of the public first. His inaction is rapidly making the West End more and more lawless.'
Her Tory colleague Neil Garratt, who wrote the Tackling London's Theft Epidemic report earlier this year, added: 'These figures are shocking but not surprising.
'In February, my report into London's spiralling phone theft epidemic showed exactly how the Mayor can get a grip, but he refuses.
'Instead, he sits back blaming the phone companies while Londoners and visitors to our great city fear to take out their phone. This problem is solvable, so I am urging him, again, to take action now.'
Earlier this week, Bridgerton star Genevieve Chennour revealed she had left London and moved back in with her mother after her phone was grabbed by a teenage thief.
The actress was targeted by 18-year-old Zacariah Boulares at a Joe & The Juice café in Kensington in February - and the prolific criminal was jailed for just 22 months on Tuesday despite embarking on a 'ruthless' spree of thefts.
One of the capital's most prolific phone snatchers, Sonny Stringer, was jailed for two years in August last year after stealing 24 phones in just one morning before evading police by riding on an electric motorbike at speeds of nearly 50mph.
And in November 2024, four prolific London phone thieves were jailed for handling more than 5,000 stolen phones - with two spending thousands of pounds from victims' bank accounts.
Zakaria Senadjki, 31, Nazih Cheraitia, 34, Ahmed Abdelhakim Belhanafi, 25; and Riyadh Mamouni also 25 were sentenced to a total of 18 years.
The cost of their crimes was said to have totalled £5.1million; with officers believing many of the phones were sold abroad.
A Met spokeswoman said today: 'We are seeing phone thefts on an industrial scale; fuelled by criminals making millions by being able to easily sell on stolen devices either here or abroad.
'In response, we have increased patrols in hotspot areas while officers are using phone-tracking data and intelligence to pursue those responsible.
'By intensifying our efforts we're catching more perpetrators and protecting people from having their phones stolen in the capital.
'The Met is also working with other agencies and government to tackle the organised criminality driving this trade and calling on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable.'
'We are reminding victims to report their phone as stolen as soon as possible to maximise the chance of catching the perpetrator; too often thefts are reported hours or days later.'
'The first thing Sir Mark Rowley needs to do is put extra officers on those streets; not only patrolling but ready to stop those on the e-bikes.'
Conservative politicians have called on London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan to do more to address growing concerns about the spiralling crime rates in the capital.
A thief steals a phone from a woman walking down a road in London's exclusive Mayfair area
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And a spokesperson for the Labour politician told MailOnline: 'The Mayor has long been clear we need decisive and coordinated action to halt the burgeoning global trade of stolen phones which is driving criminality and violence across the world.
'Evidence shows the majority of phones stolen in London are being reconnected in other countries as far as China and Algeria - a large proportion of which are still able to access Play and Apple cloud services to download apps.
'The Mayor has repeatedly warned it is simply too easy and profitable for criminals to repurpose and sell on stolen phones. This must change.
'City Hall is working closely with the Met to tackle the scourge of phone thefts in London. This includes increasing police patrols and plain-clothed operations in hotspot areas, like the West End and Westminster, where nearly 40 per cent of phone thefts occur.
'But the police can't defeat this industrial scale crime on their own and the Mayor will continue to push the mobile phone industry to go much further in preventing stolen phones being used, sold and repurposed, to build a safer London for all.'
Earlier this week London was revealed as the 15th most dangerous city for crime in Europe - and the 100th worst out of 385 locations around the world, according to Numbeo's Crime Index .
There was also outrage last month after veteran broadcaster Selina Scott, 74, revealed she was viciously attacked and robbed in broad daylight in Piccadilly earlier this month.
The stalwart of British TV was leaving a Waterstones shop on June 17 when she was struck on the back of her right knee, leaving her feeling as if she had been 'stabbed'.
She was set upon by a gang who attempted to grab her backpack. Fighting back, she kept hold of the bag - but one of the thieves unzipped it and took her purse before running off. Ms Scott lost her bank cards, driving licence and cash in the robbery.
And Matt Goodwin, senior visiting professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, wrote in the Daily Mail last week: 'London is over. It's so over.'
He cited data showing that there were 90,000 shoplifting offences in the capital last year, up 54 per cent.
Professor Goodwin added that there is now an alleged rape every hour in London—and reported sexual offences against women and girls has risen 14 per cent in five years while homelessness and rough sleeping increased 26 per cent in one year.
Meanwhile a policing expert told MailOnline last week that the incident involving Ms Scott showed London had become a 'crime-ridden cesspit'.
Ex-New Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley said the force was now so stretched in the West End that private security companies were being deployed to help.
He condemned the 'epidemic of crime' in London from pickpocketing to violence and fare evasion to robbery, adding that it was 'driving people away' from the capital.