It seems such a shame that contrary to belief, that most break ins and burglaries happen during the evening and not during the night. With an open window or your back door kept on the latch, it can make easy pickings for a thief. It's never to late to make improvements to your property.

At Bristol Local locksmiths, we have put together a list of recommendations to improve your property's security.

1. Check your doors: Most wooden doors come with one standard Yale lock. This is fine, but to improve the first point of entry to your property, we recommend that all wooden doors should have an additional British Standard 5-lever mortice deadlock. By doing so, you'll make it harder for a burglar to tamper and gain entry into your home. If your door is of the UPVC type, it is important to check that it is fitted with an Anti-Snap Euro profile cylinder. This type of lock provides a multi locking action and reinforces the door from top to bottom.
2. Make Burglars believe you are home: Even though some burglars are quite daring, most of them don’t break into a house unless they know it’s empty. If you're going out or away, it is a good idea to make it look like someone is home. This can be easily done with timers for lights and electrical devices. These can then be scheduled to go on and off at different times of the day. Ask a neighbour or neighbours, to check on your home, to remove the build up of excess mail gathering on the doorstep and to keep an eye on the place.
3. Exterior: The exterior of your property could be providing a potential burglar the necessary cover to break in. With dark pathways and enclosed gardens, it would be favourable to install security lights. Security lights act as a deterrent because they are triggered by movement and automatically light up what is within the sensor range. Another great idea is to install an alarm system that will protect your property from intruders. Make sure you set it every time you leave home.
4. Valuables: Leaving valuables on display, encourages break-ins to happen. By making sure valuables aren't left on full view by windows, reduces the chances of your property being broken into. Additionally, if your valuables are really expensive or hard to replace, then it would be advisable to obtain and install a safe. On the market, there are many different types of safes, but we recommend that your safe (whether electrical or key activated), is the bolted down version. This type of safe makes it harder for it to be removed.

Emergency locksmith call out 24 hour, 7 days a week

If you feel that your property needs security improvements, then Bristol Local Locksmiths can help. We are open 24/7 and cover Bristol and the surrounding areas. We understand that in an emergency, it can be a stressful time, but we can take the stress away and ensure that our service is professional, good value for money and your property is made secure quickly.

To date, we have acquired over 900+ reviews on Google. We pride ourselves on our customer feedback and hope that by reading our reviews, you won't hesitate to get in touch with us.

The fact is it's a prime time for burglars to strike as cities like Bristol are more likely to be targeted by burglars. Here's a few tips to avoid returning home from holiday to be greeted by the aftermath of a break in and needing your locks changed or repaired by an emergency Bristol locksmith.

Obvious advice but lock all doors and windows including those little keys on the window catches - check and double check!

That plant pot by the door or ledge inside the porch may seem a good place to hide a spare key, but it's really more obvious than you think as experienced burglars will know all the common hiding places - best to avoid hiding an extra key.

Top tip - appear to be home

If you can your friendly neighbour or a nearby relative is a far better bet to leave your spare with while you are away and they can check the property while you are away too; collecting post that builds up which is a sure sign you're away and open and close curtains at night if they are really keen to help. It all helps to give the impression that you are still at home and burglars rarely strike if they think there's someone home. You could use timers to to control your lights and audio devices which adds to the notion your still home.

It's often reported that burglars prefer easy picking when it comes to breaking into to houses, open windows or doors, obvious signs the owner is away and no evidence of visible security alarm, cameras or automatic lights could all help to deter the burglar.

Whilst it's very unlikely you'll get burgled, to ensure your home is as safe as possible, by taking a few precautions will give you peace of mind whilst you enjoy your holiday. We hope it helps ensure Bristol locksmith are not the first call on your return.