A brazen phone thief posed for photos for a train passenger enraged by his actions who decided to document the crime.

Matt Parker was travelling on a 12.09am Waterloo to Guildford train on February 2 when an apparently drunk girl in his carriage seemed to get off and leave her bag behind.

When a phone inside the bag rang, Mr Parker answered, explained to the person on the phone what had happened, and said he would hand it in if she did not come back.

He was so shocked by what happened next that he filmed the events and put them on his blog.

A young man allegedly suggested to the carriage that they steal the phone.

Mr Parker said: “Thus, I was already keeping an eye on him when he moved over and then took the phone out of the bag. I was, to say the minimum, outraged.

“So I began initially tell him to put the phone back before escalating to a full yelling-at, during which I had the presence of mind to turn my phone on and video the whole thing.

“I even asked him first if he minded me photographing him stealing the phone and he was so brazened, he held it up to pose with it.”

The man in the picture left the train at Weybridge and police have appealed for information.

Detective Sergeant Daren Bates, of British Transport Police (BTP), said: “We would like to thank Mr Parker for bringing this to our attention and pay tribute to his quick-thinking in capturing the man’s actions on video.

“The incident is being investigated and we will do all we can to identify the man responsible for this very shameless and brazen theft.

“If you recognise the man pictured in the image, or have any information that could assist our investigation, we want to hear from you.”

Anyone with information should call BTP on 0800 405040 and quote reference B13/LSA of 7/2/12.