LOCKSMITHS have revealed five little-known reasons why YOUR home is easy pickings for crafty burglars.

Easy-to-break locks, unbolted windows and lock-free garden gates are all simple ways that burglars can access your house.

And failing to tell your neighbour you're on holiday makes it easier for thieves to make their move.

But, home security expert Elizabeth Johns has warned that the fifth weakness pounced upon by burglars might take homeowners by surprise.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Elizabeth said: "Burglars can get in via your letterbox.

"On a normal UPVC front door you've got a cylinder lock, which you open and lock with a key on both sides – you use the key to open it and lock it.

"But sometimes you can get what we call thumb-turn locks.

"On the outside you use a key to open and lock it – but on the inside it's just got a little turn.

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"So you don't need a key, you just turn it to lock it.

"These are generally used on apartment buildings for fire safety regulations because you need to be able to get outwithout the use of a key.

"But a lot of people do have them on their homes.

"And when you have these turn locks on a door that has a letter box, burglars will be able to reach in with their hands or some some sort of tool that they have fashioned.

"They can reach in and actually turn the door open, because you don't have a key."

Elizabeth advises home-owner Brits to swap out their thumb-turn locks for cylinder locks as soon as they can to ensure their properties stay safe.

But the lock chosen to replace it must be of a high quality.

Elizabeth said: "If you if you have a look at locks, they will have marks on the front of them.

You might leave windows open for a bit of air and you think 'there is absolutely no way anybody's gonna fit through that'. Well, I can tell you now, they can.

"You've different star ratings of locks. You've got no stars, snap-resistant, one star and then three star locks.

"Now you can clearly see that marked on the front of the cylinder."

Elizabeth said burglars know what those marks mean – and will work out how to burgle your house accordingly.

She added: "If you've got just the standard cylinder with no stars they will know that can potentially be snapped out.

"That's what they will be looking for."

The expert said Brits should have top-quality locks on both the front and back of their homes.

"There's no point in having a three-star high-security cylinder in your front door, and then having a backdoor with a standard cylinder in," she added.

"They'll just target that other external door.

"You need to have the same standard across the board on every external exit that you've got."

As well as the back door, garden gate locks needs to be top-quality too.

Elizabeth added: "You've really got to look at every entry points and try and make it as difficult as possible for burglars.

"We see CCTV footage and burglars are just walking around, going through gates and just trying doors.

"Because on the odd occasion, someone will have left their back door unlocked."

Elizabeth also warned that windows are another weakness.

She said: "Windows are another massive point.

"A lot of people think when you have a UPVC window and say you have small windows at the top – a lot of people particularly in summer, not so much in winter – will leave them open.

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"You might leave them open for a bit of air and you think 'there is absolutely no way anybody's gonna fit through that window'.

"Well, I can tell you now, they can."

Brits often fail to tell their neighbours when they go on holiday – meaning no-one knows to look out for strange movements.

And Elizabeth warned that burglars are using "marks" to highlight a property as empty before a break-in.

Kidney beans are being poured over doorsteps at night to find out whether the occupants are on holiday.

Elizabeth said: "We are urging neighbours to report it if they do see anything [suspicious].

"And if neighbours do see anything [like kidney beans], clean them up.

"Because burglars will think you're at home.

"They are trying to establish is if there's actually anybody in the house -because [if not] that makes it such a more desirable target."

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