MOBILE phone owners who lose them and then pretend they have been stolen are being warned they will face criminal charges.

There has been at least one recent case in Redditch of a mobile phone reportedly being taken during a robbery when it had just been lost.

The owner originally reported the phone lost but when his insurers would not pay up he returned to the police station and claimed he had been robbed so he could have it replaced free of charge.

Chief Inspector Angela Burnet said: "All robbery allegations are taken extremely seriously and are thoroughly investigated.

"Reports of robberies increase the public's fear of crime and if we discover they're false the offenders are liable to prosecution or an £80 fixed penalty fine.

"It may be tempting to claim a phone has been stolen rather than lost to get a replacement but wasting police time is a criminal offence and it's just not worth it."