Don't let burglars first foot your home New Year's Eve

Date published: 30 December 2008

Police in Rochdale are warning residents to take extra care in securing their homes to prevent them falling victim to opportunistic burglars who target empty properties on New Year’s Eve.

Burglars take advantage of people letting their guard down in the holiday season and victims can return home from partying in the small hours to find that they have been burgled.

Residents can decrease their chances of falling prey to burglars by following simple advice that saves them having a traumatic new year.

Make sure you shut and lock all external doors and windows and activate your burglar alarm. Use lights, radios and timer switches to make your house look occupied.

It is also important to keep valuables out of sight from prying eyes and dispose of boxes that contained valuables by taking them to the tip. Leaving them outside your home is an advert to thieves of what might be inside.

If you are going away over the holidays ask a trusted neighbour to open and draw curtains, park on your drive and keep an eye on your home.

Registering your valuables on-line through the national www.immobilise.com database is free and makes your possessions less attractive to thieves. The database is available to all UK police forces who use it to return lost and stolen possessions to their rightful owners.

Almost any item with a serial number recovered by police can be returned to the owner if registered on the database. Users can also add photographs and certificates of ownership to their Immobilise account. Once registered users can update their account with details of new possessions, and take off items they no longer own.

Crime Reduction Advisor, Jackie Bell said: “Burglars expect people to be more relaxed and less cautious during the holiday season and take advantage of homes being unoccupied as people see in the New Year with friends and family.

“We will be visiting prolific offenders to warn them that we will be keeping a close eye on them and increasing overt and covert patrols in hotspot areas.

“Residents can play their part by following the advice given to make sure they do not play host to any unwelcome visitors at this time of year.”