A Londoner has devised an ingenious way to stop moped phone snatchers dead in their tracks - and it involves 'fish paste'. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />She said she hoped snatchers who thought they had nabbed a new phone were left with 'fishy hands'. <br /><br />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? <br /><br />'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. <br /><br />'No one likes the smell of fish and they always are wearing gloves. Take that you robbing rascals. <br /><br />'Yeah it might not solve the problem but it does change the power dynamic, doesn't it? Buy your own phone fish hands.' <br /><br />It comes as London is in the grips of a phone snatching 'epidemic' with thieves grabbing mobiles out of people's hands. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />The thief slows down as he approaches them before he snatches the phone out of a young woman's hands and speeds off. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />The clip was uploaded with the caption: 'Keep your head on swivel when in London.' <br /><br />The victim is seen in the video attempting to chase after the offender while calling out: 'Hey, come back here.' <br /><br />Another cyclist in a balaclava had passed by her in the seconds beforehand. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />'It's worst around this touristy part of London - particularly along Westminster Bridge. <br /><br />'It happens to tourists a lot because they're unaware. I try to warn them but it doesn't always work. <br /><br />'One time, a family asked someone to take a photo of them in front of the London Eye. <br /><br />'And the guy they chose ran off with their phone.
