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Around one in five burglaries in Reading continue to be via the letterbox. Last week in Reading alone, 11 more houses were burgled via the letterbox. Yet this type of burglary is such an easy thing to prevent. Chief Inspector Steve Thwaites, Deputy LPA Commander at Reading Police Station, continues to urge residents to follow some simple crime prevention tips in order to reduce their chances of becoming a victim. He said: "Burglars use the letterbox to access house or car keys, contents of handbags or even open the handle from the inside. It is very easy for everyone in Reading to stop this happening". He gave the top tips as: • At night or when out in the daytime always deadlock the front door. If you can open it from the inside just by turning the handle, so can a burglar from the outside via the letterbox.
• By all means have the front door key readily available in case of emergency but not within at least 6 feet of the front door where an implement can be put through the letterbox to reach it.
• Keep handbags, purses, mobile phones, all keys (including car keys) out of sight of the letterbox and again not within easy reach of it.
• Chief Inspector Thwaites added, "Householders can help us stamp out 20% of our burglaries overnight (and during the daytime too)." News Source:
http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/ |
