Annabel Croft has issued a warning to her followers after getting mugged for her phone by a masked assailant on a bike in London in broad daylight.
The former tennis player, 57, said she had been waiting for a taxi outside of King’s Cross station when the “terrifying” incident happened.
In a since deleted post, Croft took to Instagram on Tuesday where she explained: “I just wanted to warn people who are on their own in London. I just got mugged waiting for a taxi outside King's Cross St Pancras.
“The man was riding a bike and wearing a black balaclava. He rode straight at me and took my phone clean out of my hands,” she continued.
“He rode away with it but luckily dropped my phone so I got it back. Terrifying!”
The former Strictly Come Dancing finalist went on to thank a good Samaritan who had witnessed what had happened and came to her aid.
She added: “On a positive note, there are some lovely people out there. Luckily a lovely gentleman witnessed it and came over to help me. Thank you to whoever you are.”
Croft’s story comes as there has been a spate of phone thefts in the city.
Her experience is typical of e-bike crooks who operate across the capital, often acting in pairs and using mopeds or electric bikes to make a quick getaway.
In October, it was found there has been a 28 per cent rise in mobile phone robberies in London over a 12-month period. Research carried out by the Labour Party found that a phone is being stolen every four minutes.
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a 34 per cent rise in knife-point robberies in London last year, including those carried out on two wheels.
The Standard’s Joe Bromley recently wrote how he never uses his phone openly in Soho now due to the surge in handset thefts.
