The nights are drawing in and winter will soon be upon us. Before long we will all be getting ready for the festive season. This is a tempting time for burglars who will be on the lookout for easy pickings. Residences will be filling up with more high value items either for Christmas presents or to add more enjoyment to the holidays. Opportunistic thieves might be looking for ways to relieve you of your hard earned holiday extras.
It is time to check the security of your home and consider extra measures. Follow our tips for a safe and secure yuletide:
Secure your Doors
If you’re entertaining over Christmas, remember doors at the front should be closed and locked if you are all gathered at the back of the house. Check your door locks are adequate. You need good quality, suitable, heavy duty locks that have been installed by a qualified professional locksmith. Anti-slip latches will stop anyone using a card to open a door.
Similarly if you’re all at the front, take measures to secure the back. If you have patio doors that slide, check the rollers are in good condition, and install anti-lifting devices so they cannot be lifted out of place.
Never hide spare keys on your premises. Leave them with a family member or trusted neighbour instead. If a key is lost, get the locks changed right away.
Watch your Windows
Keep windows closed and locked as well. If you want to let in some fresh air whilst there’s a party in full swing, or the kitchen is filling with steam as that turkey roast gets underway, fit window restrictors or sash stops that will prevent them being opened further from outside, making sure you can remove them on the inside if you need them as a fire exit in an emergency.
If you like to have external Christmas lights, don’t feed a cable through a window so that it can’t be closed. If you don’t have motion sensor floodlights, Christmas lights outside your home can make it more difficult for burglars to approach it unseen. But make sure you have an exterior electrical outlet installed so you don’t give them easy access through an open window.
Take Common Sense Measures
Following those Christmas shopping expeditions, don’t leave your high value purchases where they can easily be spotted from outside, and don’t advertise them by putting out the packaging in full view when it’s time for recycling collections.
Don’t post photographs of expensive gifts on social media websites, or use them to advertise the fact that you are going away for the holidays. You never know what unscrupulous eyes will be trawling the site to find out the houses that are likely to be unoccupied.
