24
Feb
2015
By Calvin at 09:54 GMT, 9 years ago
I was off out on my travels again yesterday, this time to a central London Ward not far from Victoria Station where you’ll find many streets of very attractive stucco terraced houses that have been converted into small hotels or flats. I was there to advise a lady about her security arrangements and I’ll be writing up that report a little later today.
The reason I write about it for you is that once again I’ve come across that age-old problem of letter plate burglary. Fortunately, the annual crime rate for the street I visited is surprisingly low. That said, it is certainly not absent and opportunity for burglary is most certainly alive and well!
Here’s the situation: The communal entrance door for this house converted into flats has a chunky, electromechanical surface fitted deadlocking sashlock. It’s been correctly installed to the very large and thick Victorian door and the strong door closer ensures that the door closes and locks on every occasion. When one leaves the building you simply press a red button on the lock and the motor snaps back the latch allowing you to pull the door open. So far so good!
The problem comes from there being an unprotected letter plate just 300mm away from the red button. A child’s hand and arm, a stick, or maybe a strong preformed cable poked through the letter plate is all that it will take to open this otherwise strong door. Failing this the door frame includes a thin strip of decorative glass to the left of the doorset and just 200mm from the latch. This could be easily smashed giving access to the release button.
Are there solutions?
Yes, but they will have to be careful, because the front elevation of the building is Grade 2 Listed. First of all, a letter plate deflector fitted to the back of the letter plate will just about solve the first access problem. The glass panel is more difficult as they may have to seek planning permission, so I’ve suggested they go to the planners with a series of solutions, which would include a small mesh grille on the back of the glass panel or some form of secondary glazing using a security rated laminated glass or a panel of polycarbonate – the latter probably being more secure. Whatever their solution it must not detract from the external appearance of the building, which is why they will have to seek further guidance.
As it stands it’s incredibly easy to get through this otherwise very secure entrance door and so I’ve asked the residents to let me know what they’ve decided to do so I can share it with you.
Remember that your home security is only as good as its weakest link.
A little advice: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/improving-the-security-of-your-existing-doors/550/entrance-doors-to-houses-in-multiple-occupation/
