FRENCH thieves as young as 12 are targeting diners in York's continental-style area, The Quarter.

A woman had a £350 phone snatched from a caf by two French boys she thought were lost tourists.

York diners were today warned to be vigilant after the tricksters - aged between 12 and 14 - left Claire Robinson counting the cost of a trip to Caf Rouge.

Claire, a crime victim for the third time this year, said a family friend - also eating alone - had recently fallen victim to a copycat theft in another city centre restaurant, also involving two French youngsters.

El Piano restaurant has posted a warning to neighbouring traders in The Quarter, saying there had been "several" incidents involving th etheft of handbags and phones.

Claire, 30, believes the opportunists are targeting lone females.

"These two boys came in and said they were waiting for someone," she said. "They asked directions in French and came over to my table with two big tourist leaflets and surrounded me."

Claire, who works for a York publishing firm, said they were surprised when she spoke to them in French. "I wasn't suspicious because they were only young. Their accents were convincing and they could have been separated from their parents."

Claire said they got increasingly aggressive before "bolting" from the restaurant. Then another customer noticed Claire's new Nokia 'photo-phone' missing from the table.

The boys were short; one had short dark hair, his smaller partner had shoulder-length blond hair.

A York police spokesman confirmed the Caf Rouge incident happened at about 1pm on December 9. He said: "Anybody hustled or crowded out in public should be wary about the potential to have property stolen."

Updated: 09:30 Saturday, December 20, 2003