A PAIR of infant thieves are infuriating Palmers Green residents after a series of mobile phone thefts.

The children, who are aged six and seven, are targeting mobile phone users in bars and cafes.

The latest victim, Maria Loizou, of Hedge Lane, was drinking a cup of coffee in The Fox pub, in Green Lanes, at 2pm last Wednesday when the boys came into the pub.

She said: "The owners started shouting at them to get out, but they came up to my table. One of the boys had a newspaper and put it over my coffee, whilst the other put his hand under the paper and took the phone."

She said the two boys ran out quickly but were pursued by a group of men from the pub. The men caught up with the thieves and held them until police arrived.

Ms Loizou's phone was retrieved from bushes along the road. She said: "I want the men at the pub to know that I am very grateful. This an ongoing problem and I think people should be aware of it. I saw them being chucked out of McDonald's earlier in the day. They were probably up to the same trick.

"Police hands are tied but it would be good if our community was aware of it. At the end of the day, I wasn't. I certainly would have been more cautious if I had known."

It is thought the same boys are responsible for a number of similar mobile phone thefts in the area over the last month.

Police said the boys, who are under the age of criminal responsibility, will be closely monitored. A spokesman for the police said dealing with the pair would become easier now their identity was known. He added that the children's parents had been informed.

Ms Loizou added: "Women are the most vulnerable because, with children so young, you feel a maternal instinct to look after them. You don't expect them to be thieves."