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Just asking and doing a bit of a straw poll after an incident yesterday
We got a call off our neighbour at about 11 on Sunday morning. They'd just discovered that their car keys were missing and on going outside, so was the car. The police were called and it turns out they weren't alone. There were two gone on our road and three in the next street.
The area had obviously been targetted and the scrotes must have been going down the road trying doors to see if they were locked or if windows were open. If they could, they were coming in and specifically looking for car keys and then driving the car off. All this while people were in the house.
This all happened between 8-10 am on a Sunday morning. Thats pretty bloody hard-faced
As we've never had anything like this before, I have to admit that we'd got a bit blase about security
So would you think to keep your doors locked while you're in the house?
Yes, front door is always locked when I am in the house. It's a habit to get in and lock the door behind me, always has been.
Yes - for just this very reason.
Yep for exactly the same reason, our back door is well secluded and would not be hard to nip in. THere's been a few breakins of that nature in our street over the last few years and afew cars gone so we always keep that door locked. And the garage as well with the dobermans elastic band on his balls firmly installed so he is angry.
Yep - always locked when in the house. Lad at work had both his and wifes car nicked this way. I'd been doing it for years prior to that mind.
Yeah, we always do - we live in a fairly busy area next to a shopping street, with all sorts of folk walking past all the time, so it's just a habit we've got into. We do keep a key near(ish) both the front and back doors for emergencies though.
Yup, front door always locked.
Rear door locked too, but they would have to jump the gate (always locked) and navigate 2 frothing dogs to get near the house.
In fact, no one can get near the house without the dogs alerting us. If someone steps foot on the drive, we know about it. Probably don't need to lock the front 😀
Always - we also have a chime on the alarm system that sounds whenever an external door is opened.
Having said that, I do live in a post industrial apocalyptic wasteland
Nope, front door is always unlocked if we're in, even at night. Came home yesterday evening after a night away to find the garage door open because something had fallen by the inside of the door and tripped the sensor, could have been that way for over 24 hours. Wifey's returned home at lunchtime before now to find the front door wide open, because we'd left together that morning, and each thought the other was closing and locking the door. Guess we live in a pretty safe area, or we're very lucky, or both...
Nope, i never lock my doors or check to see if my windows are shut but i live in a quiet galloway town so my experiences may not be relatable, Last time i locked my door was back in may when i took off to aviemore for a week.
Yes.
Nope. Only when I go to bed. Nearly always leave the door unlocked when I pop to the Tesco Express too (it's the type of door that doesn't lock automatically when you shut it).
Went out all day with my mate on Saturday and got home to find the back door was unlocked too.
This is the place where I accidentally left a bike out, propped up against the garage wall all night and it was still there in the morning. Not a lot of crime round my way.
Yes. Always locked, has to be unfortunately.
No, only when going to bed.
In Weymouth yes.
Daytime in Oxfordshire no. A lot of people in the house most of the time, but if I'm in the back end of the orchard (not mine!) and there are only a couple of folk around I lock up.
nope. and at my in-laws place the best place to find a set of car keys is generally in the car.
Yes always locked - but I leave the keys in it in case of fire and I have to get out (only one door - although I guess I could always go over the balcony).
I have thought about the car keys, however I live on my own so if somebody breaks into the house and that is all it will take to get them gone, they can have my car!
Never used to, do now (front door moreso) because
1) my folks had a strange experiance whereby they came down one morning to find a strange bloke had walked in and gone to sleep on their sofa after getting confused after too many beers.
2) we have a child who is just tall enough to reach door handles and is getting to grips with opening them
Not a good idea to come onto an interweb forum and tell the whole world you don't lock your doors.
Always but then I do live on my own.
Yes, as despite having to Terriers downstairs that let me know everytime someone walks past the Bay Window, I work up in the Loft, so buy the time I'd come down brandishing a 9 iron, the scrote would be Long gone..
Yes, always.
Only at night - but then we live miles from anywhere really.
Not a good idea to come onto an interweb forum and tell the whole world you don’t lock your doors.
Exactly, and for that reason mine are always locked (honest)
Yes, ever since a complete stranger walked into my house. He'd made an honest mistake and thought he knew the occupants! He was mortified and very apologetic, but he could have been a complete nut case!
Not a good idea to come onto an interweb forum and tell the whole world you don’t lock your doors.
Our doors are always locked, as is the back gate. I've lived in considerably less salubrious areas than I do now, so its just habit. Seems like there are a few neighbours who don't lock theirs. I'm sure they will now.
This is the place where I accidentally left a bike out, propped up against the garage wall all night and it was still there in the morning. Not a lot of crime round my way.
I've done this too. Got distracted after getting back from a night ride, got up in the morning and looked out of the window to see my bike still leaniing on the wall outside
Not a good idea to come onto an interweb forum and tell the whole world you don’t lock your doors
There's paranoia and there's paranoia.
I remember in the 80s, we used to leave our cars unlocked too.
Then I looked out the window one day and my car door was wide open, someone had nicked all my cassettes. Always locked em after that. But then this was in Leigh Park.
Only to stop my toddler escaping.
yes ever since the mad next door neighbour with the highlighter pen eyebrows thought i'd stolen his wife (he didnt have a wife) walked in on dinner one day.
Any word on the Creedance Dezzy....
Yes, I forgot a few times but have had strangers wander in twice so after that I made sure I remembered.
We have a lot of foreign guys living on my street and it seems they are very open with their houses where their mates just walk in. problem is when you live on a terraced street where all the house look the same they do sometimes get the wrong house.
Never seemed malicious though,both times came across as a genuine mistake.
we have a snib. A little latch that flicks down to stop people opening the door. We also have a chime on the door.
Always, as I walk in the door gets locked behind me. Garage and back door also always locked, unless I'm either on the garden or in the garage.
Yes, a) I got used to a locked door due to the latch and it felt weird in the next place to have an unlocked door, b) shortly after we moved in, an incoherent hoodie spent 10 minutes kicking our door as he couldn't get in, c) where we live has a bit of a reputation, although it's slowly being gentrified, d) stories like the ops. Still get comments as if we're a bit weird and obsessive about it, as if locking the door is a big deal 🙄
Doors always locked and we have entry alarms on the front and back doors - i.e. our house alarm beeps if we open either door.
Living in Salford, this is mandatory! We've also recently invested in composite doors. Standard UPVC stuff is weak as shit.
Always, it's just force of habit. I grew up in a house where the front door locked automatically every time it was closed so you kind of got used to always going out with the key and having to unlock it to get in.
My grandparents were completely the opposite - every morning they'd open the front door and then just leave the porch door closed (but unlocked). The porch door was so unsecure it may as well not have been there but they were of the generation where it was common to just knock as you entered and call out to the occupant. They only stopped doing it after about the third intrusion where they found some random bloke going through cupboards and drawers in an unoccupied room.
No, I don't bother, saves the drug cops smashing it in with their bid red key.
Not a good idea to come onto an interweb forum and tell the whole world you don’t lock your doors.
There are two types of reader of said forum:
- people who know where I live, all (actually, both 🙂 ) of whom are friends in The Real World
- people who don't know where I live
I think I'll be fine.
We’ve also recently invested in composite doors. Standard UPVC stuff is weak as shit.
What kind? Most comp doors are wood frame and foam, and not especially secure. Obvs there are a few places that do wooden ones that are a lot sturdier. Though they need to be paired with a decent lock.
Yes, proch dor only locked at night, but inner door locks when shut too.
I have a normal yale type lock on the front door so it locks automatically. I don't put the chubb on at night though, only when we leave the house
Back door is usually locked when we're in, but not always
Nah but i can never find my keys so if they've probably earned it if they do!
I grew up in a house where the front door locked automatically every time it was closed so you kind of got used to always going out with the key and having to unlock it to get in.
Errr ... this.
Never had a front door that doesn't lock you out if it closes.
A front door that you have to lock manually*... what is this madness ?
* You have to manually lock the dead bolts obvs
Yes, but that's because it means I know where my keys are and have to have them in my hand before I can leave.
Only at night – but then we live miles from anywhere really.
Same. I’m really lax about it. Never did it when I was growing up either. Sometimes I find the shed keys in the shed door and my car keys in the ignition. Probably should be a bit more careful. More chance of having your lawn-mower nicked round here.
I’m glad I don’t live in Salford tho!
It's a yes from me too.
My mate's wife had her purse nicked from their kitchen while she was in the next room at 3 in the afternoon.
I've been doing this for a long time though as I have lived on some pretty busy streets where someone trying a door would not be noticed.
Not in the day unless I'm going out to the garden or shed for a protracted period of time. Although there are normally at least three of us in the house and someone is generally always downstairs so we'd be alerted pretty quickly.
Always lock the door at night and ensure we have a key by the side of the bed in case we need to get out quick.
Nope, i never lock my doors or check to see if my windows are shut but i live in a quiet galloway town so my experiences may not be relatable, Last time i locked my door was back in may when i took off to aviemore for a week.
^ this when we were in Galloway. The neighbours would leave the car keys in the ignition, because they might loose them otherwise. We left the back door open when we went to Canada for a month, flippin kitchen full of leaves and local wildlife on our return.
Loch Tay we didn't apart from at night.
Dunblane, yes.
I also rely on not having the keys anywhere obvious or near the door.
When people say unlocked do they mean just turn handle and walk in, or locked so the side bolts come out?
My front door locks if you close it, but you have to lift the handle to properly lock it.
Yeah, but only because 1, we have a Yale on the front door, so automatically locks and 2 the back doors latch is knackered so the only way to keep it closed is by locking it.
Handy really, as I live in a bit of Leeds that is normally on fire.
Nah never do, only at night when I'm going to bed. But I live in a small one level flat though, I'd probably have a different attitude if I stayed in a bigger house when someone could wander in unnoticed.
Someone did walk into my house in the 80s though and stole my mums purse, they got caught by the provy guy few doors down trying it on on another house. So she got that back. But then started getting into the habit of locking the front door if out the back or upstairs.
My bmx also got nicked from the back garden too, managed to get that back too, not sure how though, think my auld man just knew people! Was some scrote from castlemilk 😆
at night yes but not much in the day. The wife insists though if she’s in the bath.
The dogs literally go into meltdown if a leaf blows somewhere in a neighbouring street though so absolutely no chance of someone entering the house undetected.
We recently had a row of 6 garages broken into on our street which ended with ours untouched and we deduced it was because the dog was creating merry hell in the garden.... I took back all the harsh scoldings i gave her about being a noisy hound after that.
It locks automatically but never deadlocked whilst I’m in. I don’t want to be looking for keys if there’s a fire.
Only had one issue in 10 years where I am now and the cheeky chappy somehow broke all the fingers on one hand, nothing to do with me of course.
When I was growing up we always left the key in the Yale lock so my Dad wouldn’t be disturbed (worked nights).
Erm, Yes.
I have a front door that locks automatically, you need a key to open it. It’s a pain sometimes if I’m pissing about outside with the cars, but then I’m always happy that it locks behind me.
In the apartment we had massive security gates and key and key fobs, put you key in the lock then the fob triggered the security pin code.. without either you couldn’t get in. Unless you called security in which case they’d look down thier camera at you for about 15mins (longer if it was raining or cold) then they’d piss of and play Gin Rummy before letting you in.. 🤷♂️😜
Of course I keep them locked, can't have the misses escaping again.
Having said that, I do live in a post industrial apocalyptic wasteland
Sheffield?
Living in Sheffield - Yes Absolutely!
Living in a shared house in a British Columbia ski town - Nope. I don't think anyone in the house actually had a key to the front door!
Sheffield?
Nah but it is the Sheffield of the North
When we were packing up to move from our last house (in the North Yorks Moors) I went to unlock a door that faced on to the road that we never used but because of the layout of the house needed to open in order to get the larger items of furniture out. Except the key wouldn't turn in the lock. A bit confused I tried again then for some reason just tried turning the handle - the door was unlocked!
After a bit of discussion we worked out that the last time either of us had actually opened the door was at least a year earlier. In that time we'd been on holiday, etc. Suffice to say crime wasn't exactly rampant in those parts.
When people say unlocked do they mean just turn handle and walk in
Well, push the handle down, yes. I quite like it being impossible to lock myself out.
I once had a Mondeo that I locked myself out of... with the engine running. So probably best for someone like me 😀
Not before we had kids as our living room as it's opposite the front door. My office was next to the front door and so didn't lock it then either. Realised the other day that my wife was leaving the house without locking the front door and anybody could have come in and I wouldn't have known now I work out back.
When I lived out of town, no didnt lock the front door. But when moved to a town house where the front door opened onto the path it became habit, this has now followed to new home.
if I'm a sleep or in shower yes otherwise no. small house, living room is next to door and I have one of these
Only really when bangin' someone else's wife. 😉
Always, front door is a heavy wood job with only a 5-lever mortice deadlock so it has to be locked and the rear is an alu/wood/alu composite, very strong, same story.
We've even heard somebody trying the front door on a couple of occasions but that was when our poor neighbour, who has dementia, was in the habit of coming round.
I like horror films - so yes!
Yale lock on the front door so that locks automatically when ever you close the door, I only use the mortice lock when I'm out of the house.
Back door, unless I'm in and out of the garden a fair bit I'll keep it locked. Have also been known to lock it from the outside if I'm going to be in the shed with the door closed or using the turbo when I'm unlikely to see or hear anyone getting in.
My mum keeps her back door unlocked and mostly wide open during the Summer and she had someone walk into the house once, but her failing eyesight saved her. She thought the intruder was her grandson who lives with her. She said "Hello, I thought you were upstairs". Which I guess made the intruder think there were more people in the house (there wasn't, she was wrong on both counts) and he turned and scarpered.
I lost my keys once, eventually found them in the ignition of my car where they had probably been for about 24-48 hours...
Yes, always.
There are simply too many opportunists around my area.
No...I sometimes go out during the day without locking it too..
Always locked at night though ..last job before retiring to bed ..
half-jokingly do a "security check" eveey night before bed. check front door, and peek out window to see the red light in my car flash.
due to advice and incidents locally dont keep car keys where easily found (never have). not a crime hotspot, but in a sleepy commuter/retirement newish estate in a seadside town.
have left both unlocked on occcasoin by accident. especially on nights when unloadiing shopping. side gate usally has bolt across, but no lock. getting round back of ours is a mission though. even with the doors unlocked 😀 (cats have to use 3 cat flaps to get back in the house from the garden)
both front of house and side gate covered by the same security light. am in a quiet corner, but it also has excellent escape possibilties for escaping on foot. if your property suits a security light is esay, and advisable.
No. Sometimes not locked overnight either. It's handy when the postie is dropping off Amazon parcels as I don't have to answer the door.
The OPs area has been targeted before, I was looking at a house near there and the crime stats are easily available on-line
Not that it is an excuse for the scrotes who target the area
Mrs usually locks the door about 7pm, she feels happier that way.
Back door is always locked, I can't leave the house or go to bed without checking all doors and windows are locked downstairs.
We used to leave the back door open all day for the cats to come and go, but we've had 2 break ins in 5 years. Ironically when everything was locked up.
Front door is always locked. It locks itself. Back door not always during the day if in but not easy to access back garden.
Errr … this.
Never had a front door that doesn’t lock you out if it closes.
A front door that you have to lock manually*… what is this madness ?
* You have to manually lock the dead bolts obvs
I swapped mine for the other sort, we have quite a big driveway though so you would need to be a ninja to avoid being spotted. If it was a terrace directly onto the road then I'd want it to lock. But as we have a driveway and front garden it was an utter ballache.
But yes, we lock the house when we're inside.
we've got a big gravel driveway with a couple of gates to come through. front door is locked, bolted and double locked, side door the same. the back door means you've got to come through 3 gates and up a gravel path and we got used to not locking it if we were in the house as the dog used to go nuts if she spotted someone or heard anything anywhere near one of the gates. we lost the dog last November so have had to reset our norms. it was always reassuring when some door to door salesperson or someone came into the garden and the dog barked before I noticed they got to the door. I usually slide the big bolt across the external back door if were not in the room next to the back door now post dog. we've also got an alarm system with a beeper on the back door and the shed doors etc.
my parents never lock their back door in the day- used to not bother much at night. my dads car (an Audi or scirocco) used to regularly have the keys in the ignition on the drive and the keys in the garage door. my dads logic was they knew everyone about the village and there were no scrotes about locally. He couldn't understand when I explained that people might travel to target places like that! he's a bit better with this these days and usually can't find his keys anyway so a thief might have trouble!
I'm mega anxious over security - we don't have posh cars, but there has been an aggrevated burglary in the area. Just generally doesn't feel very safe these days so lock most things to be honest. Besides what would your insurance think if you'd not made effort to secure a door and you were broken into?
I have no way of gauging the likelihood of a burglary and we don't live in a bad area bit scrotes travel and their doesn't seem to be much policing these days.
I'm not a great sleeper either. We had one attempt on our garage a few years ago so I boosted security. Not had any problems since.
I wish I was like the more relaxed ones on here!
A word of caution to anyone who thinks a “locked” Yale is really secure
My wife and I always relied on the Yale lock at night and when going out (even for holidays). But just before Christmas we were burgled when we were in the house (we didn’t wake up). When the cops eventually turned up they reckoned that the Yale was simply flipped with a locksmiths tool that you put through the letter box. We now have a nightlatch, snib the Yale and have fitted a Blink security camera (the sort that texts an image if triggered). Chubb is locked when we go out