CRIMESTOPPERS has launched a new campaign across Cumbria to help people keep their homes safer and more secure this spring.

The charity is also calling on anyone who knows about those involved in burglaries, selling stolen goods, or targeting the vulnerable to contact them anonymously.

Cumbria is one of the safest places to live in England, however, burglaries in our towns and rural areas do occur.

Some simple measures that will keep your home more secure include: always keeping your house and garage doors locked; fitting secure locks to your shed and if you are storing expensive bikes to keep them locked and secured to the floor; fitting window locks; putting indoor lights on a timer; and fitting external lights on a timer, sensor or a video doorbell. 

Gary Murray, Regional Manager for the North West at the charity Crimestoppers, said: “The home should be a place where you feel safe and secure, but unfortunately for some this spring, it will be a place that has been violated and they feel fearful and traumatized.

“I would encourage everyone to take some simple precautions to make their home more secure and encourage neighbours to look out for one another.

"Please help keep your and your neigbours’ homes safe by reporting what you know to Crimestoppers: it’s fast, simple, anonymous and the information can help stop criminals ruining your spring and summer.”

In rural areas, it is particularly important to ensure that your home, outbuildings, and machinery are locked, that cameras and light sensors are fitted, and that suspicious vehicles and individuals are reported to the police.

When you contact charity Crimestoppers, personal details are never asked for or stored thanks to their promise of total anonymity. They are also completely independent of the police.

In an emergency, or if you see a burglary taking place, call the police on 999 or 101.