Garden furniture 'should be locked away during the night'

The weather may be getting warm enough for homeowners to venture out into their outdoor space, but they have also been warned to protect their garden furniture.
Swinton Insurance issued the plea for people to keep their prized possessions locked away in a secure place over the summer nights.
It comes after a survey that the firm conducted revealed that 23 per cent of Brits have admitted to being a victim of theft from their gardens during spring months in the past.
Steve Chelton, insurance development manager at Swinton, urged: "Homeowners need to be vigilant about locking their garden furniture away during the night to avoid garden theft."
He added that people should also look to add some quality locks to their property's doors and windows, so to protect their home too.
Jonathan Cracknell, household underwriter at Aviva, has backed up Mr Chelton's warnings recently, explaining that a lawn should have nothing lying around it on an evening, which could attract opportunistic summer thieves.

(Reproduced from GardenXL  22nd March 2011)

Gardien Tip: The figure of 23% underlines our our own feeling that garden crime is a major problem. Advice and solutions can be found at http://www.garden-security.co.uk/