There are several reasons why statistics for domestic burglary are so high. For a start, more crime is being reported to the police but, most important, there is an increase in opportunity. Rising affluence has led to more and more people owning cars and a greater range of portable electrical goods. Add to this the fact that very few people have installed what could he regarded as an adequate level of security, and it's not surprising that there are so many opportunists earning their living through burglary.

According to a research project carried out for the UK crime prevention body, out of a nationwide sample of 1,300 homes only 33 per cent had door locks approved to BS3621, the standard recommended by most British insurers. The same survey found that 29 per cent of householders only had a night latch on the front door, a lock which, on its own, offers very little security, fewer than 25 per cent of homes had more than a basic mortice lock fitted to the front door, and only three in ten homes have bolts on the back door in spite of the fact that 62 per cent of break-ins occur through the back or side. Furthermore, less than one tenth of householders bother changing the locks when they move house, meaning that 90 per cent of British householders have no idea who has a key to their home.

Similarly, in a survey carried out by the Home Office, it was found that half those questioned had no locks on their windows, one in four were without mortice deadlocks on their front door and 38 per cent were without a deadlock on the back door.

The most effective way to fight crime is to deny offenders easy opportunities. Crime prevention measures can and do work. For example, by studying the methods of the most common type of thief, the opportunist, it has been found that they will nearly always opt for the house that is easiest to break into. Homes with security measures are less likely targets.

A review or data from the latest British Crime Survey illustrated that in over half of all attempted burglaries where the burglar failed to gain entry, at least three or more security measures had been implemented.