A stolen iPad is sending photos to its British owner, the Daily Mail reports.

Tom Clarke, a software engineer, lost his iPad while he was Christmas shopping and is now receiving photos snapped with the iPad on his iPhone via the iCloud service.

He raised the alarm by posting his tale of woe on his football club's chat forum, Bright FC's North Stand Chat.

The iCloud service synchs photos on any linked Apple devices. Photos taken on an iPhone, stored on a Macbook in iPhoto, or shot using an iPhone will appear in the user's iPhoto application, regardless of how or where they were taken.

The weird photos received by Clarke included a snap of a dog, suitcases in an airport and a smiling man wearing a woman's winter hat.

The Mail reports that the GPS had been disabled on the iPad, meaning the owner could not track it down.

Apple, naturally, has an app for that, called iPhone tracker .

To protect and locate their iPhones or iPads if they are stolen, Apple users can install iPhone tracker which can track the gadgets on Googlemaps.

iPad tracker users can then choose to send a sound or a message to the gadget, remotely lock the device or remotely wipe the device.

The tool is also useful for finding your gadgets in your own home, or after a hectic night out.

To protect private data and your call tariff, Apple users should also include a password lock with the option to wipe the phone's data after several wrong attempts.

Apple's official advice if your iPad is nicked, is to report it to the police, then find your gadget's serial number by going to my support profile, sign in with your Apple ID and view your purchases in "My Products".

Have you had a dramatic story of gadgets lost and found? Tell us in the comments below.