Pupils in north Kent are marking their mobile phones in an initiative to reduce thefts.

North Kent police is providing more than 70 schools with ultraviolet pens to allow staff to mark mobiles. Officers will be equipped with ultraviolet lights which can illuminate the owner's details if a stolen phone is found.

Police are also handing out more than 18,500 crime-prevention cards on which students can record information such as the PIN and serial numbers of their phones.

North Kent youth crime prevention officer PC Bob Fogden said: "We are very concerned with the increase in mobile phones robberies, mainly because the victims are often young people. In most cases, mobile phones are being taken off young people by their peers.

"While, in the greater scheme of things, mobile phones are not a particularly valuable commodity, they are seen as a status symbol for school-age children."

PC Fogden suggested parents tell their children not to use mobile phones in public where they are likely to attract thieves' attention.

He added: "Also, if you buy a phone for your child this Christmas, arrange to have it properly marked and write down the serial number so we can identify it if it is taken."

December 3, 2001 14:42