This is the shocking spate of broad-daylight street muggings by a gang of children captured on camera in central Rio de Janeiro over the past fortnight.

The eyes of the world are due to be on the Brazilian city when it hosts the Olympics in just eight months time.

And if these appalling scenes are anything to go by, visitors would be well-advised to keep their wits about them and their valuables out of sight.

The violent phone and jewellery snatches were filmed by a local businessman who placed a camera in his office window on the corner of one of the city’s main roads.

Child gangs mug tourists in broad daylight
Attack: Residents are being targeted for their mobile phones and jewellery

The footage - recorded between mid-December and January 4 - was passed to local news station RJTV which broadcast the clip to try to shame city police into taking more action.

In one incident a youngster dressed in sandals and shorts pushes a tourist to the ground when he tries to resist before yanking his gold chain from his neck.

A bare-chested child fails in his bid to rob another middle-aged man in another - before returning with a pint-sized accomplice seconds later to make sure he gets what he wants.

A teenager in flip-flops snatches a mobile from the hands of a passenger on a bus after spotting her sitting by an open window and leaping up the side of the vehicle - although bizarrely he returns the phone to her when it falls from his grasp and breaks on the road.

Child gangs mug tourists in broad daylight
Tourists: Holidaymakers are often the victims of these crimes

Another youngster uses a bike to draw up alongside a victim before accelerating away with her necklace.

He is later filmed sat in a square by the scene of his crime examining his stolen wares.

Other victims seem to give up their belongings without the slightest show of surprise in a city where violence and police corruption is endemic.

The CCTV footage - taken near a police post which is empty and seemingly abandoned - also appears to shows Fagin-style adults advising young boys how to steal valuables and gang members gathering round to compare their takings.

The men in charge of the youngsters can be seen making pulling motions with their arms and appear to teach them how to use their fists in case they meet with resistance.

Child gangs mug tourists in broad daylight
Warning: Local businessmen set up cameras in the area to catch the thieves red-handed

The businessman who recorded the images, speaking on condition of anonymity and with his voice disguised electronically, told the TV station: “I always tell anyone I see in the street with a necklace or a mobile phone to put them away.

“It’s a real shame for the tourists. I see a lot of people being mugged.”

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Rio’s crime problems have received more attention since the award of the 2016 Olympics to Rio de Janeiro. It is due to host the event from August 5 to 21.

Rio’s mayor Eduardo da Costa Paes has admitted there are “big issues” facing the city in securing the Games from violence.

Criminal violence is said to have started creeping back up after a reduction between 2009 and 2014.

Child gangs mug tourists in broad daylight
Crackdown: Police have promised to reinforced controls

The country’s shrinking economy and a political crisis - which has left president Dilma Rousseff facing impeachment over alleged budget mismanagement - has threatened attempts to pacify slums like Rocinha near England’s World Cup hotel.

Police in Rio reacted to the footage today by promising to reinforce patrols.

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Police chiefs said they would be sending 30 more uniformed and plain-clothes officers into the area but defended themselves by revealing nearly 70 child offenders had been caught red-handed in the past three months.

A spokesman for the city’s police force said: “Policing is done in a dynamic way, in accordance with crime trends.”