CHRISTMAS came early for three schoolchildren from Ealing last week when they were given iPods by Ealing Borough Police.

Kate Hilton, 11, from Twyford Church of England school, David Bury, 11, from Acton High School, and Nihal Ferchichi, 15, from Ellen Wilkinson High School, all received iPod shuffles after registering their phones on a database set up by the Home Office to help police track stolen electrical items.

The children won the prizes in a raffle following talks by the police at their schools encouraging them to register their property online.

Schools officer PC Guy Hillman organised the campaign which was launched in January. He said: "This is a very important scheme. More than 50 per cent of all street crime involves phone theft and children are particularly vulnerable to that.

"They can register their phone with immobilise. That gives us a chance to return it to its rightful owner if it gets discovered. Everyone will get new phones for Christmas so it is even more important to get them registered."

Thousands of phones and electrical items are found each year by police, who have no real way of returning them."

Community liason officer and leader of the safer schools program Inspector Colin Wingrove, said: "Street crime and theft is a major priority of the borough. There are a lot of people who go free because we can't prove the property they have on them when they are searched is stolen. With this system even an officer in the street can check in minutes if the property is stolen."

Fourteeen million items have been registered online.

Winner Kate said: "If you have your phone stolen they have all your details and you don't have to explain what it looks like."

www.immobilise.co.uk