The gardeners unearthing stolen phones left by snatchers

Volunteers at a community garden in central London have been reuniting phone theft victims with their stolen devices after finding them buried in flower-beds.

The Phoenix Garden, off Shaftesbury Avenue in Covent Garden, has seen snatchers stash stolen phones in its grounds due to its proximity to the West End, in an issue first reported by London Centric.

Garden volunteers said they collected the phones from bushes and flower-beds and handed them to their owners or the police. As a result, fewer devices have been unearthed in recent weeks.