Every year, inventors unveil dozens of innovative hi-tech home security gadgets. Some of their ideas are bizarre, some of them are totally impractical and some of them instantly find commercial success.

Unfortunately, hi-tech inventions often mean high prices too. And, as locksmiths, we completely understand that many of our customers, from Skelmersdale to Wigan, are sensibly monitoring their budgets. Don’t worry – here are four of our best tips on how to improve your home security without spending very much at all:

1. Fit locks to side and back gates. Even the visual deterrent of a lock might be enough to keep unwelcome intruders out of your garden. Any measure that slows down a would-be criminal could give him time to lose his nerve and leave your property. Ideally, gates should not have large, sturdy handles burglars can step on to climb over the gate.
2. Shut and lock your front and back door every time you leave the house, even if you are just popping round to see a neighbour or heading out to mow the back lawn. Many burglaries are opportunistic crimes. Even intruders admit they are astonished by how often they can enter a house through an open or unlocked door or window. Remember, open access points at the front or side of your house might not be in your line of sight as you spend time in your back garden but might be easily visible from the street. As locksmiths travelling every day from Crosby to Ormskirk and from Burscough to Liverpool, we’re constantly seeing vulnerable houses that remind us many people still ignore the basics of home security.
3. Leave on lights, a television and/or a radio when you go out for the evening. Few burglars are attracted to the risk of entering an occupied property, so appearing to be home when you are out is a strong security measure.
4. Don’t announce to the world, through social media, that you and your family have gone on holiday. If you do, you can hardly be surprised if local burglars take the opportunity to pay your empty home a visit.