Britain launches a crackdown on mobile phone crime on Wednesday with the creation of a special police unit, amid concern that organised crime gangs are exporting stolen phones.

The National Mobile Phone Crime Unit will involve 50 police officers, immigration and customs officers, and experts from the mobile phone industry.

Half of all street crime in Britain now involves the theft of a mobile phone, according to crime statistics. Nearly 200 are stolen in England and Wales every day, mostly in London, and many are exported to Africa, Asia and continental Europe.

"Through this joint intelligence picture I am confident that we can go a long way in removing the infrastructures that support these crimes," Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin of the Association of Chief Police Officers said.

Soaring street crime, especially mobile phone snatching, has led to criticism of the government's record on law and order and prompted a promise from Prime Minster Tony Blair earlier this year to cut street crime in the worst affected areas.

Mobile phone networks have made advances in anti-crime measures, with all stolen phones now capable of being blocked for use in Britain, and tough penalties have been introduced for trying to reprogram phones.

But exporting stolen handsets has become a lucrative trade for criminals because they do not need to be reprogrammed for use abroad.

Metropolitan Police Commander John Yates, the officer in charge of the London-based unit, said there were signs that the "epidemic" of mobile phone theft in Britain was being fuelled by an international market.

"There are some extremely organised gangs, particularly behind burglaries on retail outlets," said Yates.

Police have already launched a database for lost and stolen mobiles. As part of the new unit's work, detectives are hoping to get industry cooperation to set up an international database to make all stolen handsets useless whatever their destination.

Information gathered by the new unit will be passed on to all law enforcement agencies and police forces across Britain.

Since 1999 the number of people using mobile phones in Britain has risen to 51 million from 17 million.

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