A mother is believed to have trained her two young children to steal in the streets of Brighton and Hove.

They distract victims before snatching valuables, including wallets and mobile phones.

A photographer and his fiance were among those who fell foul of the young thieves on Saturday.

They were enjoying lunch at a table outside a restaurant in Nile Street, Brighton, when the children approached.

Aaron St Clair, 24, said: "The girl was about eight and her little brother five.

"They were scruffy, wearing T-shirts and shorts and sounded like they were from an eastern European country.

"They pointed to their mouths like they were begging. They produced a bus season ticket form and suggested they wanted cash from us to help pay the £62 fee.

"We said no and 20 minutes later I realised my £300 mobile had been stolen.

"The begging was just a trick to distract us while they stole things off our table."

His fiance Natalie, 23, had her business card wallet stolen.

He remembered seeing a woman nearby watching the children.

Mr St Clair said: "She appeared to be their mother. Its incredible - she was like a modern-day Fagin."

Mr St Clair said police told him they had received 40 to 50 reports of similar thefts.

Detective Inspector Wendy Burton, of Brighton police, said: "There have been a number of reports like this and we would warn people to be on their guard, to report anything suspicious straight away and to come forward with any information."

The Argus reported last month how ten mobile phones were being stolen every day in Brighton and Hove. More than 1,600 people in the city have been robbed of their mobiles so far this year.

Since June last year, more than 3,600 handsets have been reported stolen, worth an estimated £200,000.

The problem has become so serious that police and the phone industry have launched a scheme to instantly deactivate stolen mobiles.

Immobilise Phone Crime (www.immobilise.co.uk) works by blocking the number of a stolen mobile phone across all networks.

Police have urged people to register their phones with service providers and record their phone's unique International Mobile Equipment Identity number.

It can be found by typing *#06# into the phone.

A force spokesman said: "If your phone is stolen then immediately tell your service provider or call Immobilise on 08701 123123.

"The handset itself, not just the SIM card which can be swapped easily, will be barred and will be unusable on any network, even if a new SIM card is inserted."