Your garden should not be an open invitation to burglars. As the UK Police crime prevention advice suggests, garden fencing in good repair is the first line of defence against any kind of garden invader from professional criminals through to noisy neighbours!
Choosing garden fencing can sometimes be an afterthought, but some research suggests that as many as 80% of burglaries are made through gardens, particularly back gardens. This statistic makes clear that failure to ensure good garden security can leave households at risk of burglaries or other forms of break-in such as opportunistic theft (often of garden plants and equipment, a growing area of criminal activity) and vandalism.
How good garden fencing protects against burglary
Strong fences are a deterrent – intruders are opportunists and will pick on a garden that has low, weak or easily climbable fencing over one that has robust fencing that offers high security and little opportunity to be climbed over.
Substantial fences protect your possessions from scrutiny – like ColourFence full-screen fencing, protect your home from being examined as a potential break-in venue by burglars. By preventing visual assessment of your possessions and possible entry and exit points, full-screen fencing provides you with peace of mind. Available with an optional decorative trellis finish, ColourFence full-screen fencing is a stunning garden feature as well as a robust protection against intruders.
Fence maintenance is vital to garden security – many householders ensure they have good garden fencing when they move into a new home but fail to recognise the need to maintain garden fences. Wooden fencing often turns out to be an inferior fencing choice, because it rapidly becomes dilapidated and can offer many opportunities for break-ins via loose slats and easily climbable panels. ColourFence is maintenance free and durable, giving you complete confidence in your household’s protection.
Weak spots in garden fencing help burglars – professional criminals break and enter with ease. Vulnerable points include low or sagging fences or garden gates with poor locks. Well-designed garden fencing offers strong lockable gates that are the same height as your fences and equally robust. ColourFence offers a range of substantial, versatile gate options that are tailored to each garden with a bespoke range of drop bolts, handles and locks.
Garden fences need to look great as well as providing security – ColourRail tubular steel railing works perfectly in situations where full-screen fences are not required or not suitable. The huge advantage of ColourRail is that it can be installed using our specialist posts or fitted between pre-existing pillars on walls to fit perfectly into traditional garden designs. Like all ColourFence products, ColourRail comes with a ten-year non-flake, non-corrosion guarantee.
Good fences make good neighbours
Sometimes, sadly, our neighbours can become an irritant. Whether it’s a dismal view of next door’s ill-maintained garden, the hullabaloo of rampaging children or simply the fact that you want your garden to be a haven of peace and tranquillity, top quality garden fencing is a major contribution to quality of life.
How garden fences protect your home from burglars and vandals
We have four top tips to protect from burglars – any home that applies all four will be at a far lower risk of break-ins. If you want peace of mind, apply these four ideas to ensure you are safe at home.
- First and foremost, securing your garden is a major deterrent. In a 2007 university research project professional burglars revealed that they often check out locations to see if they are easy to break into. They even use security lighting to their advantage, as it helps them plan their entrance and exit routes. Where possible, choose fences that block a burglar’s ability to see your home, then you won’t be a top target – a burglar will choose an easier option and leave you in peace.
- Consider maintenance, because professional thieves do. What’s clear is that professional burglars are hard to deter, and will mark up houses that they plan to revisit in a couple of year’s time to see if the fences have deteriorated. Maintenance-free fencing, like ColourFence, gives you complete certainty that your garden will never be an attractive proposition to professional criminals.
- Railings may at first seem like a less secure option, but if you can top them with burglar-frustrating hoops or spears, they become an unattractive obstacle course for a burglar. Garden invaders prefer fences they can simply vault or scramble over – anything that could catch clothing or inflict physical damage as the thief climbs over will make your garden much less likely to be targeted.
- Don’t have trees or shrubs growing against fences if they will allow criminals or vandals easy access to your garden. Similarly, avoid positioning wheelie bins and other household items where they can be used as tools to enter your garden, either as climbing aids or simply as places to hide whilst the criminal scopes out a good way to break in.
Learn more about how to keep your pet safe with ColourFence…
