The Keighley News campaign to help drive "mobile muggers" from the streets has been boosted by Britain's top judge.

The Lord Chief Justice said this week that all mobile phone robbers, regardless of age, must be locked up.

And in an unusually vehement ruling, Lord Woolf said those using violence should expect to receive custodial sentences of at least five years.

He spoke out after upholding an Appeal Court decision to increase the sentences on two teenage muggers, one of whom had robbed a boy of his mobile phone at knifepoint.

Just weeks ago a teenage girl in Keighley had a knife held to her throat by an assailant who stole her handset.

Det Insp Christopher Moorehouse, of Keighley police, said this week: "Sentencing is not an issue for the police, but we strongly support the spirit of what Lord Woolf is saying.

"His comments are laudable, and they help get across the valuable message that mobile phone robbery -- whose victims tend to be young people -- is a serious crime.

"However, the people who can have a greater impact are parents, schools and the phone companies. Parents must think twice before allowing their children to go to school with expensive mobiles in their pockets."

The Keighley News has joined with the police to raise awareness, particularly among young people, about the dangers of openly carrying mobile phones on the streets.

Around 80 per cent of victims of handset robberies in Keighley are aged between 12 and 18. Police officers are to visit secondary schools to speak to students about personal safety and about the various methods of protecting phones against theft.

Det Insp Moorehouse said approaches had been made to the local education authority and to educational establishments, with a very positive response.

Keighley MP Ann Cryer (pictured) echoed the advice that mobile phone users must take safety precautions, but expressed reservations about Lord Woolf's comments.

She said: "I would prefer to leave it to individual courts to make a decision based on the specific circumstances of each case. If it is a first-time offender with an unblemished history, a community service order would be more appropriate rather than a custodial sentence."