Mark Bridge writes:

Having just returned from a week's holiday in a part of the country where mobile coverage was surprisingly sparse, it struck me how much mobile phones were linked to the recent English riots and looting.

The National Policing Improvement Agency is rolling out new mobile fingerprinting devices to police forces across England and Wales.

These devices will allow officers on the beat to check an individual's identity within two minutes, even if the person is unconscious.

Front-line police officers 'on the beat' will soon only need a few seconds to check whether a mobile phone has been stolen. A new process developed by the National Policing Improvement Agency comes into effect on Monday, giving officers the ability to directly access the National Mobile Phone Register from a handheld device.

Around 54,000 officers across the UK currently use handheld computers in their work.

Yesterday morning City of London Police arrested nine people as part of an investigation into a suspected fraud case that's believed to have involved premium-rate international phone numbers being called on mobile phones. Officers also seized up to £15,000 worth of mobile phones along with hundreds of SIM cards and fake documents. The raids took place after an investigation in partnership with O2.

UK Crime Prevention Minister James Brokenshire has announced a new mobile industry code of practice that's designed to stop stolen phones being recycled for cash.

90% of handsets reported stolen in the UK are now blocked across all networks within 48 hours of reporting, making them virtually useless to criminals trying to sell them within the UK. However, until now it's been possible to sell these phones to recycling companies.