TWO girls stole a man's mobile phone from a pub table after distracting him by begging for money.

Police in Darlington are looking for the two girls, who are believed to be Eastern European refugees aged between eight and 12.

Russell Longstaff, a maintenance worker at the town's Cornmill Shopping Centre, was doing a crossword in the Red Lion pub between 3pm and 3.30pm on Friday when the thieves struck.

He was approached by two girls wearing identical yellow dresses and while one showed him a charity hospice sign, a second stood to the side of him.

Mr Longstaff, 42, said: "I was sitting in the snug and I saw them peer round the corner. I was sitting on my own, and my phone was on the table beside me.

"They came up to me, and started talking to each other in what sounded like an Eastern European language. One was putting the sign right up at my face, and the other was standing at my side. I shooed them away.

"It was a little while later that I realised my phone had gone from the table. The only people to be in the snug was myself and the girls.

"I went into the town to try and find them, and when I asked people sitting outside the Boot and Shoe, they said they had seen them there as well."

Mr Longstaff, from the Eastbourne area of Darlington, had only owned the phone, worth £120, for two days.

Inspector Dennis Dixon, of Darlington Police, said: "It is very rare for a crime of this sort to happen in the town. We would urge everybody to keep their property safely out of the reach of the opportunist thief. We are making inquiries to try and identify the thieves."