Community organisations are coming together to offer Lichfield and Burntwood residents advice on having a safe and happy festive period.
Lichfield District Safer Community Partnership is launching weekly top tips covering everything from how to make your house more secure, to how to keep your possessions safe while Christmas shopping.
Jenni Coleman, the organisation’s safety coordinator, said: “Even though Lichfield district is one of the safest places to live and visit in Staffordshire, with crimes reported to the police reducing year on year, we wanted to make sure everyone is as safe as possible this winter. This is why we have come up with some top tips.
“We are launching our weekly tips with advice about how to keep your home safe against burglars, as it’s important to be even more vigilant in the winter, as the nights draw in.”
The first in the series of tips is on home security. Advice includes:
- Use a light timer switch. Set it to come on in the early evenings and to go off later in the evening.
- Keep your windows and doors locked – one in five burglaries take place through unlocked windows and doors.
- When at home, make sure your house and car keys are easily accessible to you but not a potential burglar.
- Be careful not to advertise your movements when visiting public places or using social media websites, such as Facebook or Twitter.
- Consider marking your expensive and valuable items. This could be with marker pen or one of the specialised property marking systems, such as Smart Water.
- Close your curtains when going out for the evening, and ask a neighbour to open and close them if you are going away on a winter break.
- If you have a house alarm, remember to set it.
Councillor Colin Greatorex, Lichfield District Council’s cabinet member for organisational development and community, said: “This advice is really just common sense, but we want to highlight that, by following simple steps, people can go a long way in reducing their risk of becoming a victim of crime.”
Jed White, Inspector of Lichfield and District Local Policing Team, added: “There’s often a seasonal increase in the number of house burglaries after the clocks go back.
“This is because it’s more obvious that a home is unoccupied if it’s in darkness, which is why we advise people to use timer switches on lights.
“Remember to have them set daily to come on in the early evening before you get home from work or if you’re going out and about.”
