The Crime Prevention Website

For those of you who have enjoyed receiving new gadgets this Christmas here’s one from home insurance expert, Confused.com, who sent us a press release to start the New Year off.

New research conducted by OnePoll in December 2012 for Confused.com has revealed that nearly half (47%) of Britain’s homes would have been left empty and unguarded for anywhere between one and nine nights over Christmas.  With such a high portion of properties being left empty and vulnerable to burglary and theft, Confused.com has leapt to the defense of the country’s homes by teaming up with inventor Ian Burgess of Setwo Limited to create a home security system with a difference.

The ‘Festive Garden Guardian’ looks like your average garden gnome, but this little gnome hides a wireless camera, motion sensor and router behind its smiley face.  When triggered by an approach to within 5 metres, the camera takes a series of photos at thirty frames a minute and sends them as an alert to a pre-determined email address.  And because the camera is connected to the internet the home owner can also log onto the camera remotely from a laptop or smart phone to see what’s happening at their home.

If you’re interested in acquiring a Festive Garden Guardian you can register your interest here and depending on public demand, Confused.com will look to roll the Garden Guardians out as a full scale product line in 2013.

The research also revealed that:

  • 14% of UK homes are left unguarded every day
  • 22% of UK homes will be left unoccupied for between 3 and 9 nights during the festive season
  • 50% of those polled do not have a ‘home security set up’
  • 44% of the British public worry about their house being broken into while they’re not there
  • 76% stated that having someone keeping an eye on their house while they were away would make them feel more assured

The research also identified that Christmas crime has risen consistently since 2009 (Office of National Statistics) and that 44% of the public recognise December as the month when their homes are more at risk.

If you do purchase one of these little men please let us know how you get on with it and we’ll report back later in 2013.

Note: The Garden Guardian is best positioned under a window away from pathways or around the side of the house away from the main door – this is so that regular visitors don’t trigger the alarm but won’t impact on the effectiveness of the Garden Guardian given that burglars are unlikely to use entrances in plain view when breaking into a house

Related links:
Confused.com http://www.confused.com/home-insurance
Register your interest http://www.confused.com/home-insurance/no-place-like-gnome

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