According to 24/7 Mobile, simply attaching its ultra thin SIMable chip to a SIM card immediately fools most mobile phones into thinking that they have been unlocked.

You’ll need to cut a hole in your SIM card – which we know will panic some of you out there – but 24/7 Mobile says the customised cutting press that comes with each unit does the job for you.

According to the company, using SIMable is actually a way of maintaining your manufacturer’s warranty.

“Whilst mobile phone unlocking is not illegal, it will in most cases invalidate the handset's warranty,” a company statement said.

“SIMable requires no handset interference and thus the full manufacturer's guarantee remains intact.”

Once a tiny hole has been pressed out of the SIM card, the SIMable chip is aligned with the SIM and inserted into the locked handset.

Using the cutting press, SIMable can be used more than once by transferring it to any other SIM card.

The chip is supposedly compatible with the majority of mobile handsets, including all the latest 3G devices.

24/7 Mobile said it was keen to stress that unlike any other similar application on the market, SIMable “enables 100 per cent functionality on all phones, including full 3G operation”.

SIMable can be purchased from the company's website for £16.99 plus postage.