IDENTITY thieves used detailed knowledge of a Bournemouth man to steal two phones together worth £450 despite his security measures.

Martin Bartlett shreds his paperwork, never uses a credit card and only buys small items like CDs online but he still fell victim to a scam with a delivery address in Bristol.

The 58-year-old from Rosebud Avenue has a pay-as-you-go Virgin mobile - but got two invoices for £130 phone contracts from Orange.

"I was horrified," said Mr Bartlett, a production worker for the Daily Echo.

"I phoned Orange and they said they must have known my personal information like my date of birth, age and address.

"You like to think you do things securely, but obviously someone somewhere has got hold of that information.

"The only thing that rings an alarm bell in my mind is I went on holiday to Crete in June and I had to show my driving licence to a French guy in the car hire place.

"The police just said there's not a lot they can do and to be careful, and that they wouldn't record it as a crime because I hadn't lost any money."

The man who ordered the phones posed as a solicitor and even phoned back the day after to complain he had been put on the wrong tariff, winning a £5 rebate.

The Daily Echo tried both phone numbers but they were out of service.

A spokesman for Orange said: "The phones were signed for at the address by a C Short'.

"They have now been disconnected and there should be no further issues.

"Mr Bartlett will not have to pay the invoices. Unfortunately, this is just one of those things that happens in the 21st century."