A medical student from Cardiff faced a visit from the debt collectors after a thief stole his mobile phone and ran up a £1,500 bill while he was out of the country on a charity placement in South Africa.

Trainee doctor Michael Barker was doing voluntary work in a hospital in Lesotho, an AIDS stricken area of South Africa, when his mobile phone was taken and his agreed credit limit exceeded by a massive £1,425.

However, despite Barker reporting his phone stolen as soon as he returned to the UK, mobile provider 3 are chasing him for full payment.