Home and Business Security and camera systems and Alarm in Cleveland OH

Securing your house not only gives you peace of mind, but can also cut your home insurance premiums. So how can you protect your home, even when you aren't there?

Security on the cheap

Have a noisy home. I know someone who keeps a drum kit in front of a potentially vulnerable bay window. No burglar is going to hang around long after crashing down on snare and cymbals. A front drive with deep gravel creates a loud crunching noise to deter trespassers.

For those who live in the country and have a bit of land, geese make for excellent security and a gaggle can be bought for less than £100. They make an ear-splitting racket when disturbed at night, are cheap to feed and can live to at least 20.

Thorny shrubs beside windows and property boundaries are great for ripping tell-tale bits of clothing and impaling uninvited guests. Aylett Nurseries, near London Colney, Hertfordshire, recommends pyracantha, berberis or Crataegus monogyna. But beware growing a hedge that provides cover. A favourite tactic of muggers is to skulk in the front garden waiting for the unsuspecting homeowner to come home.

Ask your neighbours to push post through the door if the postman leaves it sticking out of the letterbox, to fill your dustbins to make it look like someone is at home, park a car in your drive, and even cut your lawn so that the house looks lived in. And don't forget to cancel newspapers and milk while you are away. Fourteen milk bottles on the front step is a dead giveaway.

Electronic deterrents

A recent survey of convicted burglars for National Home Security Week sponsor Micromark showed that of the 35 interviewed, two-thirds rated alarms highly for deterring a break-in, 63 per cent said that they would probably or definitely not burgle a home which had closed-circuit television (CCTV) and 86 per cent believed security lighting could be an effective deterrent.

Duncan Bland, marketing director of Everest, the home improvement provider and security specialist, says: 'The minimum amount of protection a householder should consider is to protect every ground-floor entry point and any first-floor entry point that is accessible from an adjoining structure such as a garage or shed or bow window.'

Research for The Observer among British Security Industry Association members found the average price of a bells-only alarm was £400-£600 plus £65 annual maintenance, or £800-£900 plus £200 annual maintenance for a monitored alarm.

DIY-type alarms can be had for less than £100 - it all depends how sophisticated and hassle-free you want to be, and the size of property. Some of the cheapest versions can be a bit Micky Mouse - I found one on eBay for less than a tenner.

A light with movement sensor can be had for £19.98 from B&Q and the association gives the price of CCTV at £1,500-£3,000 for a digital recording system with two cameras. Again, you can get much cheaper DIY versions.

Structural solutions

The Home Office says fences or boundary walls can be up to a metre (3.3ft) high when next to a road or footpath, or up to 2m elsewhere. Anything higher would require planning permission.

Under the Occupiers Liability Act 1984, you must take reasonable precautions to prevent injury to other people caused by dangers on your property.

Gareth Morgan, chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' planning and development faculty board, says that local authorities would be unlikely to allow electric fences, glass shards and razor wire because they would potentially be dangerous to the public.

Melissa Davis, a London press officer, described how her grandmother, who lived in Darlington, had glass shards cemented on her walls after she was broken into four times. 'The council made her take them down again. The inference was she might cause injury to a burglar.'

The human touch

The Keyholding Company's HouseCheck service sends a KeyWarden to visit your property and ensure it is secure when you are away, switching lights on and off and clearing post. The service costs £24 for registering your keys and membership of £10.95 a month.

Pals4Pets will send someone to your home to play with and feed your cat, making it look as if your home is lived in, all for a registration fee of £20 per cat plus £14.10 per visit a day.

Earlier this year, Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said he thought private patrols were a waste of money. Yet a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation by Adam Crawford and Stuart Lister, of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, at the University of Leeds, found patrols provided reassurance to residents where they felt there was a lack of police on the beat.

Wealthy residents in prosperous Kensington & Chelsea, in south west London, and many others think the cost is worthwhile. Roddy Cragg, a partner at estate agency Knight Frank, says residents in Victoria Road are paying £1,000-£2,000 a year each for private security guards.

'Most guards are there between dusk and dawn and patrol the roads. In Victoria Road, one of the guys wears a big luminous jacket saying "Security". He has an alsatian that looks like it comes from hell. He walks down the middle of the road. You are not going to steal in that area because you will get caught.