Hi All,

Just a reminder to lock up and secure your house. Some lovely people tried to lever up our front Sash Windows (and those of our neighbours) over the weekend just gone. We were out from midday saturday until sunday evening and think it happened during that period, although it could conceivably been today (we are not certain). It seems to have been the bolts that stop the front sash windows opening more than an inch or so that prevented people getting in even though enough force was used to rip the screw lock from the frame. I would thoroughly recommended any who doesnt have these getting them.

HOB

thanks for the info and very glad they weren't successful. Where abouts in HOP are you?

Not alone there. This happened in Forest Hill.
Last week my son answered the door to three teenagers who asked if they could use the phone. He was put off by their general attitude, refused and closed the door. They then kicked the door open (breaking the frame and yale lock) entered the house and proceeded to steal two pushbikes from the hallway. Luckily the police arrested them a little later (just past the Horniman and about half a mile from our house) but they were released on bail that day.
Beware if anyone rings on the doorbell and asks to use the phone.

Erekose thats a really unpleasent thing to happen, I hope that hasnt shaken you up too much, its good to hear they were caught the same day.

Gabriella, this was off Garthorne Road in HOP. Unfortunatley it seems they were sucessful further down the street on the same evening.

Again I would recommend anyone with sash windows buys bolts on the side that stops the front windows being opened (realistically when do they get opened anyway?). Also Victorian houses are pretty cool inside at this time of year.

HOB

We were burgled a few years ago when our sashes were levered. The CSI guy told us to cut our hedge right down. Apparently the same night another house on Whatman Road had also been done, and surprise surprise, it also had a hedge in front of the windows.

Two constables were conducting door-to-doors in the area last night looking for anyone who might have seen anything. One of them suggested that the burglars had succeeded in breaking in to another house in the same street.

Burglars are mostly opportunists making calculations about risk and reward so I suppose we should try to make it harder for them and also not to make it obvious that it's worth their while.

So ...cut back tall hedges that provide camoflauge for burglars. Get window locks fitted. Have more than just a Yale lock on the front door. Try not to leave small portable high-value items within sight of the front room window: laptops, digital cameras, iPhones, iPods.

Can anyone think of any more tips?

it's worth contacting the Forest Hill SNT - they post on here sometimes. They will be happy to give professional advice on crime prevention - that's part of their job after all

This isn't a burglary story, I locked myself out whilst popping to the shop and the locksmith that came and let me back in did so with nothing more than a small sheet of flexible plastic! I'd never risk not using my additional locks now (I used to just shut the door and not bother sometimes) That £60 taught me a lot!

sash window locks like these are very effective as long as you remember to screw them back in when you close the window http://www.sdslondon.co.uk/locks-for-sas...rules.html

A scooter was stolen on Wednesday night (Orange, R Reg, 60ish cc so quite distinctive sounding, very well loved) from the corner of Mundania Road / Forest Hill Road SE22 – if you’ve seen it (or anything suspicious relating to it) please get in touch. And as an opportunistic thief seem to be about, please be careful with locking your own stuff up...

Something a bit weird just happened. I was in our living room and noticed two guys were standing outside our house. Then one came through the gate and walked between our bay window and the hedge and then back again. Didn't ring the doorbell so no reason to be on our property. Then they hung around for a bit and then left. Maybe I'm being paranoid after reading this thread but seems a bit strange behaviour to me.

At the very least you should call the SNT. Have a chat with your neighbours tomorrow so you can all keep an eye out for each other.

Thanks for the warning - we all need to keep our eyes and ears open.

Its worth trying the local police support team if you have problems - had an attempted break-in in our flats. It took a bit of effort to get in touch with them (they don't seem to check their e-mail often) but they were hugely helpful over the phone and I understand they came to visit the block later in the week so fairly helpful!

Burglars are active in the Tewkesbury Lodge Estate area. Two homes entered at night whilst residents at home. In one case a large front window was opened by reaching in through a small open window. Some things were taken before the intruders were disturbed. In the second case the house was entered through an unlocked rear patio door and various ID stolen. I've also heard of a recent local case of a wooden window frame being bored to access the catch with a piece of wire during the night. Clearly a case of keeping accessible windows closed and locked.

reading this and the thread about the lady who had her bag stolen in HOP made me ask are the SNT still posting on this forum?

House opposite ours was burgled last week. The owners were in at the time. Ironically, we were abroad on holiday.

A very belated addittion to this thread...

I wanted to say how pleased I was with the response of the police. We called up on the monday evening and on wednesday we were visited by two friendly local Bobbies who took a good look and asked all the logical questions and showed a genuine interest. I believe they also visited the neighbours and took notes throughout.

We also had the fingerprint team visit the next day to take samples from the window frames concerned, and then a letter was sent to us shortly afterwards explaining what options we might have in terms of preventative measures as well as victim support information and feedback we might want to give.

All in all it was a really positive and reassuring visit to have had and one I thought was worth sharing as its not always represented as being the case but often its only the negative side you hear.

HOB

To be honest, being visited 2 or 3 days later isn't really positive news!

There was a leaflet drop about burglaries in Tyson Road yesterday which probably indicates a spate of them locally.

To be honest I didnt expect a visit at all given that no one actually got into our house so I think it is positive. Low expectations perhaps but even so I was pleased with the response.

HOB