[GillyHen]

Hi there, we have had a number of shed break-in's this week at the site. I deliberately have no lock on mine for this reason - oddly, the sheds that were broken into had nothing taken. They/he went into mine and took my lad's binoculars (luckily they were only from the poundshop). They yanked open my slide across gate to get in and also trod on the onion bed, leaving two footprints and damaging some green tops!  Anyway, my plot is next to a footpath/bridleway. The front is quite open and exposed, you can clearly see onto the plot and what is growing there. Some people had stuff nicked out of the ground last week - not ready onions, garlic etc  I'm now a little anxious; should I try to build up a fence of sorts to make the plot less open and less freely accessible? As I appreciate that if they want in they'll break in, and I'm not sure which end of the scale to err towards. Most other plots have reasonably good vision breaks/hedges/fences so you can't easily see what is growing. Some even have padlocked front doors/gates. What to do?

[Weatherwatcher]

I suspect this kind of thing will become more common as the recession bites deeper and people become more desperate  Somewhat like many years ago, before most cars had anti-siphoning measures installed, when there was a fuel crisis the number of petrol-siphoning incidents shot up.
 Most allotments would be very hard to protect from theft, I'm afraid.

[teflon]

  I've had my plot for about 6 weeks & almost immediately i was warned  that if it wasn't chained up or bolted down i wouldnt see it again if left overnight.Well with this in mind i've only ever left cheap rubbish  hand tools in my shed that would cost about a fiver to replace the lot from a boot sale.I leave my spade,rake&hoe hidden under a pile of timber&pallets nearby(£4 each for the spade&hoe,a pound for the rake).I take my stainless steel fork home everynight(my pride&joy at £15).
  To be honest if i were a thief i would probably give my plot a miss as it looks like Steptoe&Sons summer retreat&concentrate on some of the sheds that have padlocks the size of briefcases on paper thin doors with crappy little hinges.(i have a haspe&staple on my door secured with a piece of bamboo).
  Since i've been there ive heard of two  seperate thefts but luckily nothing of mine.
  

[GillyHen]

What do you think about the fencing/line of vision breaker idea

[celjaci]

Did you report the incident to the police?
On our site we had a policy of reporting every incident of vandalism or theft, eventually we were able to get a grant from some crime reduction scheme to plant a hedge.
Said hedge is now ( after 4 years ) tall enough to be a real barrier and a deterrent to intruders, even prevents some of the pizza box & beer can fallout

[HLS]

The down side with a hedge is that it could make people feel more protected from sight once they're in and stealing your veggies!  I wonder whether the odd bit of netting or chicken wire might work, just to make it look more difficult to start pulling things up.  Celjaci's suggestion about tackling the problem as a site sounds like a good long-term strategy, though.

[SnooziSuzi]

Don't want to depress you any further GillyHen but there's no happy medium when it comes to plot security.  If they want to be in, they'll get in no matter what.

As others have said, if it means anything to you don't leave it at the lotty.  The old fella behind me doesn't have a shed and consequently whilst we are all being broken into his plot is left alone because there's nothing to nick.

Does your site have lockable gates?  If so, who is responsible for locking them?

We recently installed gates onto ours and (touch wood) have only been broken into once since they went on in November ish whereas normally we would have had at least 3 by now

If you can't take your stuff home with you, is there a secure association building that you could lock your tools into at night?  It's a long-shot because most societies don't have anything that would fit that bill so really it is down to the plotholder to make sure thier valuables aren't at the lotty.

As someone said, make sure you report each individual thing to the police.  You file your report, your neighbour separately files his and so on.  It's not one break in, its lots of little ones so they have to be reported so that the police can a) be on the lookout for who did it b) add it to the crime statistics c) provide a better police presence around the allotments.

Police forces won't spend money on sending officers to an area where no crime is being commited so please please report it! (if you haven't already  )

EDIT:  one thought though; how close is your plot to houses?  Perhaps if you can rig something that makes a lot of noise it might alert people - after all, who does their gardening in the middle of the night?

[Stevens706]

If they are climbing over a fence to get in grow some blackberries along it, within a year they will start to be a deterrent because of the thorns and you can pick the fruit.

[corynsboy]

Hmmm. There has been a change in the weather and there are a lot of kids off school between exams.    Coincidence?  Don't believe in 'em! 

We also see an upturn in break ins when the May fair hits town.  That, I assure you, is
no coincidence.

The most difficult thing to deal with is the violation and then the inevitable human urge to revenge.  We've all experienced that.  If I catch those little...... Fight this urge as even setting relatively harmless booby traps and stingers on your plot can bring down a world of unnecessary trouble.  The world is full of idiots and half wits.  We grow our own vegetables in spite of them!

I don't keep anything valuable in my shed any more and my shed is nerver locked.  I have a house brick infront of the door.

We have called our local community support police officer and asked for a crime prevention pack for our site this summer.

We tell the police the problems and report all break ins and keep a log book of all break ins to show the police every time they visit.  One report per shed break in is key as SnooziSuzy said.  If your site has a profile the police can look at crime frequency and see if there are hot spots that they can effectively deal with.

As hard as it is you need to stay detached and don't draw undue attention to your site.  It's very frustrating.

[Elcie]

Our site has, touch wood, been fine.  Although last week I had a tyre taken from my plot.  Mine is the nearest to the entrance but it is very strange.  They would have walked past my shed, past the plants, left other valuable items on the site, and taken an empty tyre that I was going to plant some chives in.

Odd.

[strangerachael]

I have every sympathy with you GillyHen - your plot sounds very similar to mine, there is a footpath that runs alongside and my plot is right by the gate, which is never locked and easy to climb over. Opposite my plot the path comes out onto a large playing field, so inevitably kids gather there and my plot is particularly vulnerable - I have had a lot of trouble lately so decided to report it to the police - ditto everyone else who says you really should make the effort to do this every time. It's a pain but the more complaints they get the more seriously they will take it. Our site is privately owned not council, and they are now looking into applying for lottery funding to pay for proper fencing and lockable gates.
It does make your blood boil doesn't it?  Our vandals don't seem to want to nick anything, they just want to break things and annoy people.

[Jay The Digger]

I agree with Snoozi.  If they want it, then it doesn't matter if it is chained down, they will get it.  We have had problems with the "yoof" jumping the gates and tipping over sheds, ripping up crops and other loutish behaviour.

I just make it as hard as possible for them.  If they want to pick on me, then short of hiding in the polytunnel with a stout stick, there is nothing I can do.  I don't keep anything really valuable down there where possible, but it must be heartbreaking to nuture plants from seed, care for them, talk to them, give them names, only for some mindless idiot to spoil it all.

I would say it's the way of world, but unfortunately "boys will be boys" only applies to the under 12's.  Most of the incidents on our plot are caused by drunken yobs who should know better.

[blackbob]

guns and dogs work here,also keep on friendly terms with the local youth.
they really are your best friend when it comes to lowlifes.

[GillyHen]

Yes it's an open site, given the public footpaths and bridleways that run through it. I have nothing of value in the shed (Wilko tools, fertilisers, firewood drying out, plastic watering can, couple of cheap seats, some children's books - I even have a boxed new apex plastic greenhouse in there that was untouched). The door is unlocked and kept closed with a housebrick. The gate to the plot is low and only slides across, kept in place with a post in the ground. I am just anxious about the openness of the front, given the low wall and proximity of my first bed with the baby onions in! 

[acrobatic toast]

On our plots we have had a few spurts of shed breakings .Its a annoyance more than anything having to fix broken door ,windows etc . It strikes me as odd that thieves will brake into maybe 20 sheds on our site and hardly take anything .The time it takes the risk involved they would make more money with a paper round.