Owners of mobile phones are being warned to use them with care after police revealed that theft of the devices accounts for a third of crime in Bradford.

Officers have recovered hundreds of mobile phones following the Operation Target crackdown on street crime.

As police stepped up their fight against street robberies, they urged handset owners to take simple precautions to protect themselves.

Superintendent Colin Western, operations superintendent for the Bradford South division, said: "Cash and mobiles are the top priority for criminals and a third of crimes are connected to mobile phones.

"We want to tell people how they can help themselves and not become a victim."

Supt Western said a recent exhibition highlighting the anti-theft markings available to the public had been a huge success.

"We postcoded more than 1,300 handsets which is brilliant - but the thefts carry on," he said,

He said 77 people had been arrested during the past week as part of Operation Target.

"That is a tremendous achievement but the amount of mobile phones being taken is still too high. I would urge people to be aware of their surroundings, especially when texting in public," he said.

"They should try to avoid displaying their phone in public. If they are using it they could try and face a door."

He added that postcoding helped to return handsets that were stolen and helped to catch robbers. "We recovered hundreds of phones in May and were able to return some of them but the rest we have in storage and eventually we will have to get rid of them," he said. "The more phones that are postcoded the more that can be given back to their rightful owners."

Every mobile phone has a 15 digit IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number which can be viewed by punching *#06# (star, hash, zero, six, hash) into the handset.

Supt Western said: "This number needs to be registered with the mobile phone supplier and if it responds to a stolen handset we can find out who it belongs to. Also, we can check if a mobile belongs to the right person. It is a simple precaution."