A Londoner has devised an ingenious way to stop moped phone snatchers dead in their tracks - and it involves 'fish paste'.
Comedian Maddie Campion tried to trick gadget thieves in the capital by filling an empty case with taramasalata before walking around with the 'phone' out.
She said she hoped snatchers who thought they had nabbed a new phone were left with 'fishy hands'.
In a video posted on TikTok, Maddie said: 'Having your phone snatched in London is a major fear but what if instead of being scared of losing your phone, phone snatchers were scared of grabbing a phone case that is filled with fish paste?
'This is a solution, not the solution but imagine them thinking they will get a new phone but oh no they're getting fishy hands.
'No one likes the smell of fish and they always are wearing gloves. Take that you robbing rascals.
'Yeah it might not solve the problem but it does change the power dynamic, doesn't it? Buy your own phone fish hands.'
It comes as London is in the grips of a phone snatching 'epidemic' with thieves grabbing mobiles out of people's hands.
The most common tactic used by criminals is to whizz past on an e-bike or moped and take the phone while their victim is distracted.
Figures show that Westminster is the worst area in London for the crime with a shocking 22,253 incidents reported in the year leading up to September 2024.
One shocking video from earlier this year shows the moment a thief on a bike snatches a victim's phone from her hands in broad daylight at a bus stop in central London.
In the video, a cyclist dressed all in black rides up to a group of people standing near the Curzon cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue in London's West End.
The thief slows down as he approaches them before he snatches the phone out of a young woman's hands and speeds off.
In April, horrifying footage was shared on social media of a thief on a bike grabbing a woman's mobile phone from her hands in Albany Place, Marylebone.
The clip was uploaded with the caption: 'Keep your head on swivel when in London.'
The victim is seen in the video attempting to chase after the offender while calling out: 'Hey, come back here.'
Another cyclist in a balaclava had passed by her in the seconds beforehand.
Similarly in March, two masked thieves were seen snatching a phone and fleeing on their bikes in Hampstead, north London - before crashing into an oncoming car.
Terrified locals have spoken out against the problem with Paul, who works by the London Eye, saying: 'I see it [phone snatching] all the time. I would say every day.
'It's worst around this touristy part of London - particularly along Westminster Bridge.
'It happens to tourists a lot because they're unaware. I try to warn them but it doesn't always work.
'One time, a family asked someone to take a photo of them in front of the London Eye.
