Jump to content

Recommended Posts

So there's me idlelly reading this forum over the last year or so, lamenting the seeming increase in break-ins/burglaries/thefts in the area when I come home yesterday to find our house had been broken into (we back onto Camberwell Old Cemetery, just off Forest Hill Road). They forced open the windows downstairs and went through a couple of the upstairs rooms but only seem to have taken a camera and some jewellery... Some kind witness saw a person jump from the upstairs bedroom windown and flee into the night, reporting it to the police...

Feels horrid that someone was in our house, going through our stuff, and now they know where everything is (computers, tv, etc) theres the fear they will come back...


Just want to let you all know to keep on your guard...

hi THFC .

i had similar last yr. my advise, go and get some Brass bolt window block lock things (stop shas from sliding up) - thyre cheap and very effective, you can fit them yourself with a drill, or get them put in. - will really help.


Will

Sorry to hear that THFC..


They won?t come and it will get better. I was the same last year, I'd jump and the littlest noise.

The window bolts that Will dex mentioned above are good. Also contact victim support to get window vibration alarms; they are very effective and FREE!!


I also got an alarm system fitted when I was burgled and it?s a piece of mind whilst I'm out.


Good luck...

So sorry to hear this. I logged on today to report something similiar. We live near Ivydale Road and were burgled early Tuesday morning while we slept. They took tv, cameras, games, purses and car keys, which they used to drive off in our car in! I am heavily pregnant and my four year old was asleep upstairs. Horrible, just horrible. My neighbour said that she had an attempted robbery a few days before. I have been keeping all my stuff upstairs and carrying keys around. Its really effected us all. Keep safe folks - I am so grateful for all the support from my neighbours since the incident.

ses - just some jewellery and a camera... more worried that they know where everything is now and that they may come back.. We've had new bolts put on the windows now...

Sorry to hear you got done as well, ad2000, some nasty people around..

Jimmyay - we have single sash windows, old style... and ultrauk - it was early evening we think, about six-ish, just after it got dark...

They almost always come back as they feel more confident,


So get the place barred and locked and you will feel more secure especially when you're there alone.


It will cost a grand before you have finished, unless you or your spouse is a DIY freak.

Thieves also come back as they expect you to have replaced electrical goods etc. stolen, with new items via insurance - it then makes it worth their while to break in again, even where the risk is increased, as they can then steal brand new kit.

Never leave handbags or keys downstairs overnight. Don't leave things on the stairs where they can be seen. I am not embellishing the facts but burglars have been known to use long bamboo poles to hook bags etc off the stairs through the letter box and to then drag them to the front door where they can pull them up and find keys in the bag. hey presto and they're in your house and got your car.


Don't leave lap tops leaning up against the wall where they can be seen through the windows either. If burglars can see things which they can quickly grab then all the better.

So Stalkey what should I do about the keys? My partner locked the front door last night but I was worried about getting out during a fire. We left the keys in the lock so our kids could get out even if we couldn't. However, if thieves can hook the keys from the lock where should you keep them?


Any advice?

Leaving the key in the lock is almost as good as leaving it unlocked. Keep a spare key on a hook inside a cupboard that would be easy to access during an emergency.


PS Check your insurance policy - leaving a door not double locked may mean they don't pay out. They may also have a view on locked, but not securing the key.

Good idea Jeremy but my partner is now paranoid and wants the 5 lever lock on.


I thought you only had to lock the door if you went out not when youre asleep, for insurance purposes.?? I will check this - thanks.


I could put it on a nail but I do worry about trying to find the keys and putting them in the lock in a house full of smoke / in the dark. Our neighbour's house burnt down a few years back and we had to escape in the dark becuase the electrics failed. This all won't help anyway if they break in the window - which they did to my friends in West Wickham by smashing the glass using some kind of noise silencer.


I think we'll just have to teach the kids how to find the key and open the door in the dark lol.

My parents used to lock our front door mortice lock and hang the key on a hook at the hinge side of the door (which was flush with the door). This was helped by the fact that the letterbox was on a window at the opposite side of the door (1970s houses for you). we were all rigourously trained to be able to find the key in the evnt of fire etc.


Have you thought of getting a chain fitted? I was burgled 18 months ago (by spiderman who jumped a 60ft drop to get in to my 5th floor flat!) and Victim Support came and fitted a chain for me and offered to fit a cage around the letter box too.

Just checked with the insurance co. and yes they said I'm not insured if the door is not locked when I'm asleep or if the key is left in the door. I'm also not insured if any of my windows are opened in a way that a human body can fit through, even in the room I sleep! Good job we only have one hot day per year.


I shall be heading for the lock shop tomm.

You should attach your spare door keys to a torch and keep them by your bed. In the event of a fire, you could become disorientated in the smoke and dark. Finding your way down stairs could be difficult, let alone trying to find keys!


A key left in the door or within access of the letterbox is not a clever idea and could invalidate insurance.


Hope this helps.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • The SE22 Evri delivery family are lovely, and always say hello wherever we spot them in the area. We gave them a box of chocolates during Covid as they were working their socks off at Christmas
    • What was he doing on the stage at Glastonbury? Or on the stage at the other concert in Finsbury Park? Grinning like a Cheshire cat whilst pissed and stoned 20 somethings on the promise of free internet sung-- Oh Jeremy Corbyn---  What were his policies for Northern mining towns with no jobs or infrastructure? Free Internet and university places for youngsters. What were his other manifesto pledges? Why all the ambiguity over Brexit?  I didn't like Thatcher, Blair or May or Tony but I respected them as politicians because they stood by what they believed in. I respect all politicians across the board that stick to their principles. Corbyn didn't and its why he got  annihilated at the polls. A socialist, anti imperialist and anti capitalist that said he voted for an imperialist and pro capitalist cabal. He refused to say how he'd vote over and over again until the last knockings. He did so to appease the Islington elite and middle class students he was courting. The same people that were screaming that Brexit was racist. At the same time the EU were holding black and Asian immigrants in refugee camps overseas but not a word on that! Corbyn created and courted a student union protest movement that screamed at and shouted down anyone not on the left . They claimed Starmer and the centre right of labour were tories. He didn't get elected  because he, his movement and policies were unelectable, twice. He turned out not to have the convictions of his politics and died on his own sword.    Reform won't win an election. All the idiots that voted for them to keep out Labour actually enabled Labour. They'll be back voting tory next time.    Farage wouldn't be able to make his millions if he was in power. He's a very devious shyster but I very much doubt he'd actually want the responsibility that governance requires.
    • The purge of hard left members that were part of Corbyn's, Mcdonnel's and Lansmans momentum that purged the party of right wing and centrist members. That's politics. It's what Blair did to win, its what Starmer had to do to win. This country doesn't vote in extreme left or right governments. That's partly why Corbyn lost  We're pretty much a centrist bunch.  It doesn't make it false either. It's an opinion based on the voting patterns, demography and statistics. Can you explain then why former mining constituencies that despise the tories voted for them or abstained rather than vote for Corbyns Labour?  What is the truth then? But he never got elected!!! Why? He should have been binned off there and then. Why he was allowed to hang about is an outrage. I hold him party responsible for the shit show that we've had to endure since. 
    • Depends on what the Barista says doesnt it? There was no physical confrontation with the driver, OP thinks she is being targetted when she isnt. These guys work min wage under strict schedules so give them a break unless they damage your stuff
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...