Havering Police were able to follow the signal, similar to this, to trace the Romford victim's iPhone

Havering Police used a free homing app to track down a stolen iPhone - and found it in the thief’s underpants!

The expensive mobile was snatched from the hands of its 23-year-old owner as he waited for a bus in South Street, Romford, in the early hours of last Friday (June 15).

But the suspected crooks were caught soon after the theft when officers activated the stolen gadget’s ‘Find My iPhone’ tracking device, and then used the force’s iPad to trace the signal to outside the Goose Pub, in South Street.

The app, which can be downloaded from Apple’s website, sends out a signal from the phone which can be traced by computer to a street using Google maps.

“Four youths were stopped,” a spokesman for the police said. “Initially all the youths denied any knowledge or involvement in this incident.

“However, the stolen phone was ‘pinged’ using the iPad and the officers could hear the phone vibrating in the underpants of a suspect.”

All four boys, aged between 13 and 15, were arrested on suspicion of theft, and have been bailed to return to a later date.

Det Chief Insp Phil Rickells, of Romford CID, said: “This was an excellent piece of detective work by the officers involved using the most up-to-date technology.

“I would urge everyone with a smart phone to make use of the available apps to assist police to locate their phone.”