We were burgled at 1am last year on Bridgford St. Bizarrely they left my laptop, my bag untouched on couch and my wallet alone on table, they turned on all ligths, crept downstairs where flatmates, who lock from inside were; he woke up hearing the creaky stairs and thinking thats a bit odd for us (my husband and I) to do and came up stairs to ground floor, and then saw the man go upstairs to top floor and head for kids room right in front of him. flatmate yelled bloody murder and scared the dickens out of us but also scared the burglar who practically flew down stairs, crashed into pram, crashed out the door. Police dogs tracked him down Waldron, across Garrett lane, and the park and lost him at the river.

Was extremely violating and horrible. Now we deadlock without fail and put pram in front of door. and deadlock and bolt our back doors, but its still scary. They could just smash a front window.

Im glad I have heard on here about neighbour hood safety team and I think I might get some wooden shutters fitted on those bay windows!!

Just dont take it for granted, be cautious, be safe.

My brother was burgled the other side of Wandsworth Common. He confronted the burglars with a cricket bat. But, according to the Police, the best thing he did was stay on the stairs. This meant they ran back out through the front door. Apparently, you must NOT block off their exit. Most often, they will run off. Cornering them can be VERY dangerous.

The poster said the suggestion came from a police officer. Presumably they have their 'ear to the ground' so not an unreasonable suggestion in my view! Of course the economy is to blame too though!

As an old chippie with a lifetime's experience I'd like to give a couple of practical tips.

Sash Windows - no matter how big or strong a lock has been fitted to your sashes, it is much less effective if the staff beads have not been screwed on, normally they are quite lightly nailed, which allows the sashes to be prised apart.

Doors, fitting extra locks will in fact weaken a door because of the mortice cut into it, it is important to strengthen the door and the frame with steel plates - a good locksmith or carpenter will recommend this as a matter of course.

And on a personal note - how silly to suggest that there are more burglaries because of prisoners being released - like a lot of petty crime it is related to the current dire situation.

As a mum at home with very young children It's really worrying to hear about burglars targeting houses during the day.

A friend was also recently targeted on Leathwaite and there is a trick the burglars used to check if anyone was at home - they moved something in front of the door and watched to see if it was moved. I think they used the dustbin for my friend's house, and next door they placed an ornament from the garden directly in front of the front door.

Something to watch out for - if you see something odd like this at your neighbour's house, move it back to where it belongs to deter them!

A house on Bennerley was broken into during the day 3 weeks ago too.

The Safer Neighbourhood Team will come round to asses your security & offer advice based on local information if you contact them. I'd strongly recommend it, if only for peace of mind...

There were houses burgled on Wakehurst Rd ( our neighbours) last week during the day. The police knocked on our door to warn us to be vigilant. Please take extra care of your houses if you're going away this Christmas.

I am going to go contact the Northcote safer neighbourhood team to see if they have some advice which can be shared.

Hi ,there,s a very good locksmith on Trusta Trader .com if that,s any help to you

What is the best number to call if something like this happens?
Is it 999 or local police? If anyone knows useful numbers, please let me know. Thanks.

Reading this thread I just wanted to give my sympathies and say how brave I think you all are. A burglary is a terrible violation and its really scary to hear that there seems to be such a growing problem.

Our insurance company came out to do a security inspection of our house and suggested that we:
* Fit a banham lock instead of yale which are apparently very easy to force. For good measure fit a second lock towards the bottom of the door
* Fit the screw in window locks (buy them from SDS on northcote rd, very easy to install)
* Fit a cover over the letterbox to make it harder to reach in and jimmy locks

Of course they also suggested an alarm but as we have a cat its not really possible. Another little thing I have done is to rig the house with those plug in timers that turn lights and radios on and off at different times - good for if we go away for the weekend etc.

I hate the idea of these guys lurking about watching mums go about their business. and Its a special worry with christmas coming up and people being away.

Anyway, stay safe everyone!

It is absolutely shocking how many burglaries are happening at the moment, I live near Battersea Park and was also broken in to last Wednesday. They managed to manipulate our front door lock which was just a Yale lock, and then when they were in, they had all the time in the world to kick our flat door in. This was also in the middle of the day. We have now majorly increased all our security and locks - but I no longer feel safe and it has been a huge violation of my personal space.

Talking to the police, they are noticing a huge increase in crime, as one officer told me - 'after the riots it went very quite, and now they are all starting to get out of prison, so crime is creeping back up, and we predict a very busy christmas'. - not very reassuring!

So please, all be safe, and really access your security preventions.

Hi SazzleLondon,

sorry to hear of your experience; I'm glad you were OK though.

I've just recently started a Neighbourhood Watch in my street (down in Tooting) and want to say that the local SNT (safer neighbourhood team - police) have been marvellous. You could also speak to your local SNT about something called "Flash", which is a free service from the Fire Brigade which checks your fire safety AND locks & gives you advice on how to improve areas where you might be vulnerable.

Even if you aren't able to get a Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) started soon, the council might be able to provide you with their Meerkat NHW window stickers which warn people you're part of a watch & are apparently a deterrent. Having said that, I asked the council about starting a watch in my street, and within a month they had organised the launch meeting.

Anyway, keep safe & good luck!
Tracey

Neighbourhood Watch is a good idea, we have one on our road.

The council will help residents set one up, & you don't have to do the whole road if yours is very long, you can choose a segment from one junction to another for example. Once you get people signed up then it's pretty easy to co-ordinate via email.

There is a link on the council website with more details:

http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/info/870/c ... hood_watch

Hi All,

My husband works for ADT as a security consultant in Balham, Clapham, Wandsworth and Putney and he has been really busy with break ins lately.

Sorry to hear about the burglary, he recommends that if you hear anything the best thing to do is get the family to a safe place and lock yourself in and if possible don't try and confront anyone.

We have also registered our property on a website called Imobilise its a free service and was recommended to us by the police. it helps them trace your property if it is sold on and also helps you remember what you have if you need to make an insurance claim

If you want any advice on alarms and general security, he would be more than happy to help, just message me directly and I can pass on your details or give you his number

Hi all again,

Thanks so much for your kind and supportive words, it actually was pretty frightening.

As referenced in some posts, the police told us to get the proper sash window locks which we have now done, because it was all to easy for the burglars to break the window catches that were there previously.

The other thing I'd like to say is that I had no particular plan of how to confront or not confront the burglars in my mind, I just acted mainly on impulse, but interestingly, the police told me that I had done exactly the right thing otherwise they would have found me alone in my bedroom. As it was, I shouted, "You're not alone in the house, I've rung the police," and because they couldn't see me they didn't know I was alone.

I heard yesterday of another burglary between the Commons three weeks ago, again the front window was forced.

I am now interested in joining or starting a neighbourhood watch scheme between the Commons - does anyone know if there is one already or would be interested in taking part?