The UK's five mobile phone operators have set up the database so that when one handset is stolen it cannot be used on any of the networks.

The firms have come under pressure from the government and police following a surge in mobile phone thefts in the last few years.

An average of 900,000 phones are stolen a year in the UK - around one in four robberies.

BBC crime correspondent Neil Bennett said the industry had been working hard to make mobile phone theft less attractive to thieves.

"This will mean that when someone tells their network operator their phone has been stolen, it will immediately be cancelled - like a credit card - and will be unavailable on all other operators," he said.

Street crime

Mobile companies continue to work on technology aimed at making it impossible for the professional thief to reprogramme stolen handsets.

Firms already use a system, which allows phones to be immobilised when customers pass on the identity number of their handset.

The new database follows a government pledge to give mobile phone thieves tough jail sentences, following a surge in street crime.

A Home Office report last year showed schoolchildren - often targeted by other youths - were at least five times more likely to be targeted by mobile phone thieves than adults, with 48% of victims aged under 18.