West Mercia Police is urging green-fingered residents to help it ‘weed out’ garden crime by reviewing and improving their garden and shed security.
Although Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Telford & Wrekin are low-crime areas, around 1,500 shed burglaries take place every year across the West Mercia region and spring often sees an increase in these thefts.
Many people leave valuable equipment in gardens and unsecured sheds, providing easy pickings for opportunist thieves. So, it is important that people take the time to ensure their valuables are stored securely.
Later this month thousands of packets of seeds will be distributed to the public across the force. They come packed with handy tips on how people can make their gardens and sheds more secure and prevent burglars from breaking in.
West Mercia Police has also produced Shed Cards with the message ‘STOP all valuables have been removed’, which local residents can display on their sheds (in gardens and allotments). The cards act as a handy reminder that valuable items should not be stored in sheds, as well as deterring thieves from breaking in.
PC Ian White, the force’s Crime Risk Manager, said: "While many people take steps to protect their homes and the property inside them, they often leave valuable equipment such as power tools, mowers, garden tools and bikes in sheds in their gardens or allotments. Often they are unsecured or not strong or secure enough to defend against thieves.
"We are advising people to look at how to secure their gardens and allotments and if necessary make some adjustments."
The force has produced a leaflet that gives further security advice, which is available to download from the force website (
) and from garden centres and police stations.
It gives the following useful tips:
Physical security of sheds:
• Sheds are not well designed for safe storage so there are a number of measures you can take to make theft more difficult for burglars
• Shed doors should be fitted with a good quality, close-shackle padlock
• Sheds with windows should be fitted with a grille or mesh
• Burglar alarms can be purchased for sheds and outbuildings. Battery-powered shed alarms are inexpensive and can be bought from hardware shops, DIY stores or locksmiths.
Security of property inside sheds:
• Expensive items such as bicycles, power tools, mowers, garden tools and golf clubs should not be stored in sheds.
• If there is no alternative place to store them, they should be secured to a strong anchor within the shed, e.g. metal rings fixed to concrete on the shed floor
• Large items should be chained together – it is more difficult for a thief to carry away a lot of large heavy items all at once
• All items stored in a shed should be property marked
Defensible planting:
• Defensible planting (prickly plants) is nature’s own way of deterring burglars and increasing the security of your home and garden
• It is not meant to replace, but to complement other security measures
• Defensible planting can be used to protect all areas of your garden and property, e.g. perimeters, windows and drainpipes
Boundaries and lighting:
• Boundary fences, gates and walls should be kept in good repair as they can prevent thieves from getting to the back and sides of a property
• Good garden lighting will illuminate your garden, putting off potential thieves
Security of tools and ladders:
• Garden tools and ladders should not be left lying around in gardens
• Unsecured tools and ladders can be used to break into a property
• Garden equipment should be property marked
For further advice or information, contact your local policing team via 0300 333 3000.