Clearview National November 2016 - Issue 180 | Page 72
HARDWARE& SECURITY
Brian’s on the bus this morning…
Avocet launches radio campaign aimed at tackling driveway car theft
»»YOU’LL BE HEARING A LOT ABOUT
Brian and why he’s on the bus if you listen to
Capital Radio this autumn, as Brighouse-based
Avocet Hardware has launched a hard-hitting
national radio advertising campaign aimed
at dra wing attention to the ease with which
cars are being stolen from driveways across the
country – and highlighting just how easy it is to
prevent it.
The company, which is the sole security
sponsor of the European Neighbourhood Watch
Association (EUNWA), has acted after police
figures showed that car theft incidents had risen
by eight per cent in the year to March 2016.
Clive Lloyd, Avocet Hardware’s Managing
Director, said: “Car thefts are significantly
lower than they were twenty years ago, but the
fact they are now on the rise demonstrates that
thieves have found a way to circumvent the
in-car technology that played such an important
role in their decline in the first place.
“Today, newspaper report after newspaper
report tells the same story – vehicles are being
stolen from driveways following break-ins where
the only things stolen are the car keys. Meaning
the advanced nature of the car and its security
technology doesn’t matter a jot.
“And when you dig deeper into these stories
you’ll find, more often than not, that the breakin was achieved through lock-snapping.”
Avocet has praised the Society for Motor
Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which
joined forces with the Government, police and
insurance bodies earlier this year to try and
understand the nature of modern day car theft
and develop solutions to tackle it. The aim
of the SMMT-led campaign being to inform
vehicle owners about the hidden dangers and
the steps they can take to secure their vehicles.
“We applaud SMMT, and everyone else
involved in this campaign, but its guidelines for
safeguarding your car fail to mention the risk of
cars being stolen as a result of lock-snapping,”
continued Clive.
“It’s something that’s happening everywhere
and to everyone. Footballer Darren Bent was a
victim, while I’m sure if you ask friends, families
and neighbours, it’s ever more likely they too
will know someone it’s happened to.”
The tale seems is all too familiar. People, who
simply aren’t aware of the flaw in their home
security that a standard Euro
cylinder causes, wake up
one morning to find
their car gone. It
happened to Mark Davies and Ruth Harrison
– a local couple who Avocet stepped in to help
out after their Mirfield home was broken into
and Ruth’s £8,000 Mini Cooper driven away.
“Ruth and I knew next to nothing about
lock-snapping before the burglary, but did
our research straight afterwards and we were
staggered to discover the sheer scale of the
problem,” said Mark on the day Avocet stepped
in to upgrade their standard Euro cylinders to
ABS.
“Our intention with the radio campaign is
to stop people like Mark and Ruth becoming
victims and reverse this trend,” explained Clive.
“Yet despite the length of time we’ve been
talking about it, lock-snapping still isn’t given
the kind of prominence needed to see the public
educated sufficiently to know what steps they
need to take to prevent it.”
“And as we all know the installation of a
proven snap-secure lock on PVCu or double
glazed doors will keep burglars out – and in
some cases be enough to put them off even
trying to break-in.”
Avocet sells one of the UK’s most secure
Euro-cylinder locks. ABS was the first lock in
the country to have both Sold Secure’s SS312
Diamond accreditation and a BSI TS007 3-star
rating. It was fitted in over 10,000 homes
by West Yorkshire Police as part of a crime
prevention programme that resulted in a 35 per
cent drop in burglaries in just one year. It has
also never been snapped once fitted in any
home in the UK.
“Car theft is by and large an
opportunistic crime,” concluded Clive.
“By installing a snap-secure Euro
cylinder lock like ABS on the relevant
doors, and taking reasonable precautions
with your keys at home, then everybody is
doing their bit to cut these opportunities down
to a minimum.”
Listen to the first advert in Avocet’s
radio advertising campaign on: https://
soundcloud.com/user-3196366/burglarad-final?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_
campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook
Watch burglars put off by ABS: https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=ETapIrVfxy8&feature=y
outu.be&app=desktop
www.avocet-hardware.co.uk
72 » N OV 2016 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M