Last Updated on 12 August 2010 by ianr

It is an unfortunate fact that burglaries are in fact on the rise across the UK according to recent surveys. Police forces across the UK are urging people to do everything they can to lessen the chance of an attack; you have probably seen the adverts. Not leaving valuables such as lap tops or car keys on display is a good start. So is making sure doors and windows are locked – even if you have popped out to the corner shop for five minutes.

A recent survey found that 67% of attacks on a property are through the front door. This may sound a little odd at first, surely this is not the most covert way to gain access to a property. The fact of the matter is that criminals are a lot more cunning than given credit for these days, and they have unfortunately recognised that front doors are a weak access point.

If a burglar knocks on your door when you aren’t home, nobody is going to find this suspicious. Once they realise you aren’t home, one of the most common ways they will gain access is by snapping or bumping the cylinder on your door. uPVC doors are the worst for this, as plastic panel doors have plummeted in price over recent years so to has the quality. The majority of uPVC doors now are fitted with cheap Euro cylinders from abroad, which cost manufacturers around £0.30 per cylinder.

Is it just me who thinks that it is crazy that all of your TV’s, laptops, cash and car keys are protected from thieves by a 30p cylinder?

Unfortunately at Global Door we can’t stop thieves attempting to break into houses, but what we can do is make sure they never get through the front door. Composite doors are currently dominating the external door market for a number of reasons, the main one being security. PAS24 accredited, as well as Secured by Design (the security initiative endorsed by the Police Force), Global Door’s really are about as secure as a front door could ever get. The PAS24 accreditation on our door shows that it can withstand all manner of forced entry methods and composite doors have notoriously upset some Police forces over the last two years as they are almost impossible to kick through!