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Outdoor Security Advice & Tips

Outdoor Security Advice is this weeks topic for National Home Security Month, which follows on from last weeks advice which focused on security inside the home and how to protect valuables inside the house.

Here we’re looking at helping you protect yourself from thieves targeting property outside your house, or using items that are outside to gain entry to your home.

For advice on securing your home please read our quick home security tips advice page.

1. Shed & Outbuilding Security Advice Tips

Use Shed security to protect items in your outbuilding

For added protection use ground/wall anchors, padlocks, cables and chains to secure expensive items in your shed.
Use the security devices to lock items together to make them awkward to remove/use.
Always look for 3rd party accreditation for your security products such as Sold Secure approval.

Using a shed shackle can lock your bike & ladders to in the shed

Please see Sold Secure for approved Shed security products and Hasp and Staple locks for your shed

Burglars use ladders or tools lying around in your garden to break in!

Burglars could use these to break into your home, so store them securely in a shed or outbuilding

Again using shed security products mentioned above to secure your shed/outbuilding.
If you have a flat roof then think about where you store your wheelie bin and whether this could be used to gain access to that flat roof and thereby any windows within reach of that roof.

2. Bike Security Tips

Less than 5% of stolen bikes are returned

If you’ve got a bike, secure it in a shed or garage with a sold secure approved cycle lock – statistics show that less than 5% of bikes stolen in the UK are ever returned.

Also, make sure you lock it to something sturdy – ideally a ground anchor fitted into a concrete floor or look at the likes of a shed shackle. LOCK IT OR LOSE IT!

Sold Secure Approved Bike Locks

Sold Secure approved bike locks are approved to gold, silver or bronze standards, having a Sold Secure rated bike lock is a good way to prevent bike theft.

Gold – high-risk environment (higher time limit and heavier level tools)
Silver – medium risk environment
Bonze – normal environment (relatively short time period with limited tools)

Sold Secure 2014 Bicycle Gold, Silver and Bronze logos

Look out for the Sold Secure Approval logos on Bike Locks

Secure your bike in a bike locker pod

3. Shed & Outbuilding Alarms

Use a Shed/Outbuilding Alarm

You can help protect valuable items stored in a shed or outbuilding by using a battery-powered stand-alone alarm. You can get some devices that will notify you and send you a picture should your shed be broken into.

Northumbria Police with Shed Alarm image

Secure your shed with an alarm

You may also want to consider installing security lighting around your shed.

60 Second Shed Security Video from GM Police

4. Advice for Vehicle Security Over Night

Don’t leave valuables in your vehicle

Never leave items of value in your vehicle overnight.
Tradespeople, in particular, should never leave tools in their vans
Statistics show UK tradespeople have lost £75million from the theft of tools since 2008.
Use additional security on your van – Consider contact a auto locksmith near you to add security such as slam locks etc –