Talking lampposts warn of muggers

The speakers are placed 15 feet off the ground

"Talking" lampposts are warning south Londoners to be wary of muggers in an unusual scheme to tackle street crime.

Ten metal speakers stuck 15 feet up lampposts in Streatham and Norwood are triggered by motion sensors.

A well-spoken man's voice tells passers-by: "Please look after your mobile phones - street robbers are operating in this area."

The Metropolitan Police say if the scheme proves successful it could be rolled out to other parts of London.

Technology magazine

The speakers, which are about the size of a bird box, have been put around the railway station and bus stops to warn people returning home from work.

"The tendency is for people, as they get off the bus or train, to pick their mobile phones from their pockets and say: "I'll be home in 10 minutes," crime prevention officer Pc Dave Skinner told BBC News Online.

"The robbers know this as well, so they follow people down into the side roads off the main A23."

Pc Skinner spotted the loudspeaker boxes in a technology innovations magazine and thought it would complement the force's continuing Safer Streets scheme.

He says he has been teased a little by his colleagues who say the boxes gave them a shock.

But he added: "That's the effect I'm trying for. If you have a bit of a shock, you take it on board and you might think twice about getting your mobile phone out."