Bradford headteachers have spoken out in support of Government calls for a mobile phone ban in schools.

The Home Office is urging teachers to stop under-16s from bringing phones into school in a bid to tackle a surge in crime.

New figures for the Bradford district show the number of mobile phone robberies jumped by 80 to 192 for the 12 months to November, 2001.

And a Home Office report, Mobile Phone Theft, shows that teenagers are five times more likely to have their mobiles stolen than adults.

Dixons City Technology College, in Ripley Street, decided to take a strong line on the issue with all its 1,090 students two years ago - irrespective of age.

Deputy principal Hilary Temple said: "We support this position in general and issued a statement in January, 1999, telling parents that mobiles should not be switched on or carried visibly in college as they can be used extremely disruptively.

"There are also crime and safety concerns to consider and we have warned students not to flash them about outside the college because a number have had their phones snatched."

Wyke Manor School head teacher John Fryett, who is in charge of 1,000 students, said: "We have never allowed mobile phones at school and I'm delighted this stance is being taken. They are potentially disruptive and there is a bullying aspect to them, too, through sending abusive text messages, as well as the risks of theft."

The problem has even spread to the district's primary schools, with children as young as five being found with mobiles at St Peter's RC Primary School. But administrator Beverley Dore said: "We don't allow them and we never have. "

Bradford Grammar School head teacher Stephen Davidson said pupils were allowed to carry mobile phones although they were under orders to switch them off during lessons.