People are always looking for ways in which they can improve their garden and home security. Often petty thieves will scourer gardens and sheds to see what they can find, which is often easier to take than to break in to a house.

There are a number of things you can do to try and improve your security and avoid becoming victim to a burglary. The first thing you may want to do is to install a fence all the way round your garden with a good quality gate as an entrance point. Ideally you want to gate to be lockable.

Next install some outdoor CCTV. Think carefully about where you are going to position it so that it covers as much of your property as possible, especially over entry points.

You could install motion sensors or intruder alarms that pick up movement in the garden, the only issue is you may find it goes off if a cat walks through your garden.

Be sure not to leave any valuable items in your garden. Bikes, kids ride on toys and lawnmowers etc should all be put in a lockable shed or bought in to the house if possible.

You can never completely avoid a break in but you can try and take these simple steps to help.