TV narrowboater had phone stolen during filming

The stolen phone contained personal photos and songs he was writing

TV personality Robbie Cumming is appealing for the return of his stolen phone, which contained personal photos and recordings of songs he had written.

Cumming, star of the programme Canal Boat Diaries, believes the phone was taken from his coat pocket when he was on a night out in Nottingham.

He tracked the phone down to a block of flats in the city using the Find My iPhone app on his other phone.

However, none of the residents he spoke to said they had the phone.

The presenter had been using the phone to film the programme, but fortunately the footage had been uploaded before he went to a pub in the city.

"The last place I had it was in my leather jacket pocket on a chair in that pub," he said.

Robbie used the phone to film the programme

After tracking it down to a building in Portland Road, near Canning Circus, he rang the different flats to speak to people.

"Everyone was so nice, people were buzzing me in left, right and centre," he said.

"They couldn't do much more to help really."

The iPhone 13 was stolen on 10 December, after Cumming's boat, The Naughty Lass, broke down in Nottingham.

He had been filming series four of the programme, which is due to air on BBC Four.

Stuart Woodman, the programme's producer, said: "It was only by luck that we didn't lose anything from the programme. We could have lost two days of filming.

"It's not just his personal phone, it's his work tool. He composes music on it [for the show], he films the programme on it. To lose it is a big blow."

Nottinghamshire Police have been contacted for a comment.