Atherton Online

School pupils from Atherton were advised about how to keep their homes and belongings safe. 

PCSOs visited year 6 classes in St Georges Church of England Primary School and in Meadow Bank Primary School, to help pupils avoid becoming victims of crime and become a Junior Crime Fighter. 

Youngsters were asked to take home and fill in a short survey with questions about how security conscious they are in the home when it comes to locking doors and windows and what steps to take when going on holiday. 
Completed surveys were all entered into a prize draw to win an MP3 player. Pupils were also given a UV security-marking pen to mark personal property and they were each presented with a certificate for taking part. 

PCSO Neil Fallows said: “Helping pupils to understand how to keep themselves and their property safe will hopefully contribute to reducing the number of people who experience property and vehicle crime. We continue to ask people to remain vigilant over the summer period – don’t give burglars that window of opportunity.” 

Police are issuing the following tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of burglary: 

• - Lock all external doors and windows whether you’re at home or not.
• - Install an alarm and make sure it’s activated when you leave your home empty and before you go to bed at night. 
• - Make sure your home looks occupied when you leave it empty: leave a light on and set timer switches to turn lamps and radios on and off. 
• -Install sensor lights that switch on automatically when movement is detected around your property. 
• - Do not leave a spare key concealed anywhere near the front door – burglars know all the hiding places.
• - Keep all keys hidden out of sight and well away from external doors and ground floor windows (prevents hook and cane thefts) 
• - Fit a 5-lever mortise lock on the front and back doors.
• - Fit window locks on ground floor windows, or upper floor windows that can be reached easily.
• - Do not leave gates, sheds and garages open or unlocked. 
• - Lock all tools and ladders away securely. 
• - Ensure your house number is clearly visible from the street, so when police get reports of a burglary they can find your home quickly and are more likely to catch offenders.
• - Join or set up a Home Watch scheme.
•  

Additional to the tips above, when you are going on holiday follow the points below to avoid becoming a victim of burglary: 

• - Make your home look occupied and unless a room is obviously a bedroom to people outside the home, don’t close your curtains in the daytime. Ask a trusted friend or neighbour to close them for you when it goes dark.
• - Ask your neighbour if they would like to park their car on your path, this will keep your home looking occupied. 
• - If neighbours keep your keys, advise them not to put your surname, address or house number on your keys in case they fall into the wrong hands.
• - Cancel any milk or newspaper deliveries. 
• - Avoid discussing holiday plans where strangers may hear details of your absence from home.
• - Cut the lawn before you go and trim back any plants that burglars could hide behind.
• - Ask a neighbour to pick up your mail or consider the Post Office’s ‘Keepsafe’ service. For a small fee, they can hold back the delivery of mail for up to two months. If you return home early, written cancellation gets the mail delivered.  
• - Consider leaving important documents and valuable items with other family members or a bank.

• - If you normally leave valuable pedal cycles or similar items in your shed, consider putting them in the house.