Isle residents urged to take steps to avoid burglaries

A home break in during the darker nights through a back door

Many people leave for work in the dark and return when it is dark which can lead to properties looking vulnerable and unoccupied. In a small number of cases these houses are then targeted by opportunist burglars.

To combat this people can take some steps to make there homes less desirable targets.

These include:

· Keep your home secure, make sure that you’ve locked all outside doors and windows and, if going out and you have a burglar alarm, make sure it is set.

· When going out, use automatic timer-switches to turn your lights on when it goes dark.

· If you are going out for a long time ask a trusted friend or neighbour to close the curtains and turn on lights in the property when it gets dark.

· Consider using a plug-in timer for the radio would make it sound as if someone was home. Tune the radio to a station that has more talking than music.

· Look at your doors and windows. Make sure you have sufficient quality locks, restrictors and door chains.

· Be a good neighbour, report anything suspicious in the area on 101.