You're not going to like this one.

According to Macworld UK and the MacRumors forums, a locked iPhone can be accessed by anyone with the right sequence of button presses:

Pressing the emergency call button at the unlock screen, followed by two taps on the home button, takes you to the iPhone's private 'favorites' page without the need to enter the unlock code.

If the owner of the phone has favourite entries in their address book containing URLs, email addresses or mobile phone numbers, then those entries can be used to launch the browser, mail application or SMS (Short Message Service) software and gain access to private web favourites, email messages and text messages stored in the phone, again without entering the unlock code.

The security hole, which was recently discovered by a MacRumors forum user, apparently came as a surprise to an Apple spokeswoman in London, who mentioned that she'd look into the matter.

In the meantime, private data can be kept secret by not adding e-mail addresses or URLs to favorite address book entires.

Stay tuned for more details as they become available and let us know what you think over in the comments or forums.