Dark nights, lots of wrapped presents and people out enjoying the festivities mean your home could be targeted by burglars, says one burglary-busting social enterprise.
They say it’s time to switch on the lights to switch off burglars’ interest in stealing from you.
CASAC (Community Action and Support Against Crime) is urging everyone to be on their guard and do all they can to make their homes secure.
Neil Goldup, CASAC’s Chief Executive, said: “This really is the bumper season for burglars. They know that homes have more goods in them and they don’t care where they strike to upset someone.
“Burglars prefer empty houses – especially ones without lights on and surrounded by darkness.
“A burglary at this time of year really will spoil the festive season for you. We visit many burglary victims and they all say being burgled is a horrible experience.”
So CASAC have a number of tactics to beat the burglar:
Leave a light on: It’s simple ruse to leave a light on inside the house. But do so in more than one room to give the impression someone is in
Use a timer switch to turn on lights inside the house:  Try to use a timer switch in another room – and let the rooms you ‘light up’ be seen from the road
Use lighting outside the house:  Security lighting should operate either on a timer switch or permanently from dusk to dawn. These lights cost virtually nothing to run but are very effective at deterring burglars
CASAC also offers a free service for people to have their homes inspected by an engineer. Any work that needs doing is highlighted – and it can usually be done there and then.
As one of the country’s leading social enterprises, CASAC have found that after installing their crime-proofing solutions the chances of being burgled are almost zero.
Neil adds: “After installing our security devices the chances of being burgled again are greatly reduced. It’s this fact which deters burglars from trying to break into a property once they have seen we have made it more secure.”
CASAC has a 10-year track record of successfully beating burglars. It is part-funded with money from the Home Office’s Safer Homes Fund.
They are so successful that West Yorkshire Police's Crime Reduction Officers now refer people directly to them.
Supt Simon Whitehead, Chief Officer for Community Safety at Safer Leeds, said: “It’s important that people know there are things they can do to protect themselves against burglary - and making their home is properly secure is one them.
“It’s a relatively simple job to fit good security devices and one that makes a big difference to crime rates.”

More information and media images at http://casac.org.uk/

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