MUGGERS on mopeds are targeting lone women on some of London's wealthiest streets.
Criminals are snatching valuables including handbags and iPods as they ride past their victims. In some incidents they have used hammers flexible waterproof led strips as weapons.
This summer police have seen an upsurge in the muggings, which they believe are being committed by a small group of youths.
On several occasions riders have mounted the pavement and pillion passengers have reached out to grab the goods. Laptop computers and top-of-the-range mobile phones have been taken on busy streets in daylight.
Police say thieves are targeting affluent residential and towncentre streets where shoppers and office workers routinely use a single bag to carry expensive items such as MP3 players, mobile phones and palmtop computers along with purses and wallets.
Between January and the end of June there were 35 such robberies in Hammersmith and Fulham. In Wandsworth there were 30 and in Kensington and Chelsea there were 29. The trend is part of an overall increase in street robberies across London.
The number between April and June rose by 6.2 per cent compared with the same period last year. The rise comes despite a 6.7 per cent drop in the Prada Fake Handbags total number of crimes committed in the capital from April to June.
Police say women walking alone are most likely to be a target of the moped muggers, with the majority of offences taking place between noon and 6pm.
In Hammersmith and Fulham officers launched a campaign against the crime, arresting 18 people last week.
Officers also seized 57 vehicles, including 30 mopeds, which had been stolen, abandoned or did not have tax or insurance. Chief Inspector Keith Overstall, who led the operation, said: "The thieves are usually young people, often teenagers, with no licence who are riding stolen mopeds.
"Some of these bikes would undoubtedly have been used to commit robberies.
By taking them off the streets we are preventing these crimes.
"Using a moped and wearing a helmet offers the offenders anonymity and affords them a quick getaway.
"These offenders put their victims and themselves at risk. It can be terrifying. People need to be aware of their surroundings and try not to display valuable goods."
During the weeklong operation police used a helicopter to track mopeds and gathered information from traffic wardens who reported suspicious vehicles.
One officer who tried to stop a moped close to Uxbridge Road in Shepherd's Bush was knocked to the ground with a glancing blow.
In total there were 1,200 street robberies in Hammersmith and Fulham in the year to the end of March - 7.3 per cent down on the previous year.
'They came out of nowhere' ONE victim of the moped muggers had Pounds 2,000 worth of property stolen in King's Road, Chelsea.
Lucy Jones, 19, had her Louis Vuitton bag containing an iPod, Louis Vuitton wallet, cash and phone snatched on a Saturday afternoon.
"They came out of nowhere and grabbed my bag," she said.
"There were two of them on a moped. I had seen them as I waited to cross the road but didn't pay attention. I was distraught."
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