As we head into the colder months, Chief Supt Dave Stringer, Tower Hamlets Borough Commander, has recently published some tips on keeping your home secure.
Writing in the Tower Hamlets and Docklands Advertiser last week, he lists three things that make homes vulnerable to burglary:
- UPVC doors not locked with a key
- homes left in darkness
- letting strangers into the house
He points out:
“The darkness makes it very easy for an opportunist burglar to identify an empty property and then steal from it. To a burglar, a dark house is an empty house.”
Alexandra Locksmiths would add to that statement the fact that in the darkness, a burglar can work for much longer without fear of discovery. As well as lights inside the house, consider passive infrared sensors to trigger your porch light, and perhaps an alert chime alarm system.
There are other things you may not have considered that can affect your home security in the winter. For example, you’ve probably had your windows open during the summer, and you may not have been locking them. Now that it’s colder, make sure they’re properly closed and locked. This is particularly important if your windows have a wooden frame, as the wetter weather can cause the wood to swell. Don’t forget about skylights! If any locks are damaged or just don’t work, now is the time to change them.
Were you out doing gardening and DIY a lot over summer? Make sure your tools are locked away, and if your ladder is too big to fit in the shed, consider chaining it down (perhaps with a ground anchor).
There are lots of other things you can do to improve your home security all year round. Security grilles are a great example – they protect your home from burglars without detracting from the way it looks. Collapsible grilles can be used to reinforce a glass or weak old door but can be retracted and obscured behind curtains when not in use. If your locks are not up to BS3621 then now would also be a good time to upgrade. This is particularly important as if they do not meet that standard then they will also not be insurance standard, which means they may actually invalidate your home and contents insurance policy.
Act now – call Alexandra Locksmiths on 020 8883 1555 for a full no-obligation security survey or quote today.
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