More than 100 mobile phones are being stolen every month in Brighton, new figures show.

That's almost double last year's tally and police fear the numbers will go even higher this summer.

They said clubs and pubs in the city centre, including The Event, Paradox, Zap, Honey Club and the Walkabout, were among the thieves' favourite hunting grounds Thieves slot new cards into the phones and sell them on, leaving some victims with long contracts to pay off.

Police said there was evidence of 'middlemen' moving into the racket.

During a recent police raid on a shop in the city officers found boxes full of mobiles, most of them suspected of being stolen.

Police have launched an initiative to tackle the crime wave and they have appealed for owners to step up security.

Sergeant Richard Delacour urged owners to avoid taking phones into clubs and pubs and to write down their phone's serial number, usually found under the battery.

He said: "If we recover stolen phones then we can try and match them with owners using the serial numbers."

Writing your postcode with security markers under batteries would also help.

Mobile phone thefts are threatening to dent vastly improved crime-detection figures for Brighton police.

There were 466 mobiles stolen up to April this year compared to 269 during the same period last year, a 73 per cent rise.

August was the worst month last year (134) and police expect the summer months this year will be the worst for thefts, with more people in the city, crowds on beaches and packed clubs and pubs.

Mr Delacour said: "If this year's trend continues we will have 765 more offences than last year. That is a 3.1 per cent rise in total crime for the year in Brighton."

Police are suspicious some of the thefts may be bogus. Some people are reporting phones lost or stolen so they can claim the insurance and buy a more modern phone.

Most of the thefts, 83 per cent, were from bags or coats and the others were from the person.

More than 60 per cent were in the city centre from West Street to the Palace Pier and half occurred in pubs and clubs.

Victims were usually aged between 16 and 30 and the vast majority of the crimes went undetected.

Police are talking to clubs and pubs and stepping up patrols, on the look out for phone thieves.

Mr Delacour said: "This is becoming a very lucrative and prolific crime in the city. Don't make it easier for the thieves."