# Burgled when parked and asleep :(



## ActiveCampers (Jun 17, 2005)

Hello
Fortunately not me - but unfortunately my parents 

They were in France (in their french registered motorhome), wild camping in a truck park (I think) with a lot of background noise I guess. Day 1 of a trip to Nice (they live mid-south France)

Asleep in the back (fixed bed in rear) when they awoke to find someone in there. My mother (obviously) screamed; Dad went ape****.... 

Then the PIR alarm went off....

The guy shouted "Police" - (trying to confuse them perhaps?)

Dad still went ape**** and chased them off.

They are fine, but my mother lost bag, purse, cash, driving license, credit cards, mobile, address books etc......... 

Looks like they broke the lock on the passenger door to get on, and even turned the seat round!!!!

So - thats the facts.

Now I would assume had they not woken (I mean - they slept though lock punch, door open, seat swivel, man in....) - a "gas attack" would be blamed. Goes to show you can sleep through anything (I don't belive in gas attacks anyway...)

The door was locked, but it is a Fiat cab, so not deadlocked. (My transit has deadlocks - but I never lock it when in it)

PIR worked - but the delay was too long or sensitivity too lite 


Anyway.....

Any tips for them - I'd hate them to loose confidence?

I've heard of "belts" to lock driver and passenger doors together? Anyone have any links?

Cheers!



Oh my ear is aching from hearing the story 32 times so far.... 
PS - they are fine and, I guess, enjoying having a story to tell everyone. 32 times. Parents eh?


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## klubnomad (Mar 6, 2006)

Sorry to hear of you folks burglary. Glad to hear that it was not put down to a "Gas" attack.

When I park up for the night, I set the alarm but turn the interior sensors off. That way if the doors are opened, the alarm goes off. Even the habitation door has a contact on it so that's secure as well

Dave

656


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## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

Glad it was just a few posessions they lost. These things can turn nasty sometimes.

We take our dobermann Ollie with us in the rv... im sure he would love a holiday in France if your folks want to borrow him.


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## 101075 (Sep 22, 2006)

Sorry to here about mum and dad, at leaste they are ok.

You can link both front doors together using bike security cables, I do when it is left in storage, on my fiat I thread one thru each armrest and padlock together but if you need to get out thru the front doors in an emergency you ain't gunna do it in a hurry.
Somesort of alarm with a lot of noise and light would be the best bet.
Or a kin great doberman


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## shortcircuit (Mar 19, 2006)

Interesting posting as I am in the process of fitting an alarm.

Thankfully your parents were no hurt.

I am cover all accessible openings with contacts and was swithering as to fit a PIR (DualTech) or not. You have kind of swayed be to go for belts and braces. I am assuming your parents alarm was a PIR only.

I also intend to fit dead locks to cab doors.

I hope they will not be put off


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## Lizziec (Apr 30, 2006)

We have a Fiamma bar, this is telescopic and it has metal pieces which slide down between the door frame and the window each side, also it is a visible deterrent. Cost about 30 quid but worth it.


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## teensvan (May 9, 2005)

Hi.

Sorry to hear what happened to your parents. We had our van broken into when we first got it. The drivers door lock barrel was very neatly removed. We now have an alarm fitted. I had a 6mm wire strap made up at a boat yard £5. This threads through both doors around the bottom of the steering column and locks together over the steering wheel horn push. If either door opens more than 2 inches the horn sounds and wakes you up and should scare anyone off.

steve & ann. -------- teensvan.


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## moblee (Dec 31, 2006)

*Burgled*

Really sorry to hear about your parents,hope it does'nt knock their confidence and they continue motorhoming...I beleive there is a lockable steel bar which slides into the top of cab doors which stops them being opened.They have some on this site in (Outdoor bits) not sure of price though.Good luck and STAY SAFE.


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

Just make sure that in the efforts to avoid a repeat they don't make the van difficult to get out of in an emergency.

What they have now is a serious shake up and a loss what they could have is a tragedy.

Regards Frank


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## clipper (May 22, 2005)

sorry to hear about your robbery we were robed 5 years ago we had a Rapido Fiat cab the same thing bed in the back 3am they had been under the bed nicked our cameras money bags ect woke and screamed and the man fled So I fitted a metal eye to the metal bottom of the seat and one to the door and a fence tightener cable tied to the seat eye and with the hook on the outer end to fit over the door eye then twist it tight very easy and cheap


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

Some food for thought for me certainly. Reconsidering my security arrangements which may have to include getting the missus a bigger hand bag to fight with.


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Security*

Hi

I too have used lorry parks and only today, MHFer Rita raised a concern about this.

I sleep with valuables hidden away.....but next to the sink is a wallet. In it is a very old cheque book from a closed account and an old bank card along with some old currency notes - mostly lire! If the thief saw it, took it etc, they have have got away with bugger all. (Sorry to swear).

I really hope your folks are OK.

I rely on Oscar too much for security, but I think I need to reconsider my overnight stops.

Russell


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Terrifying experience. i hope they feel they can go away soon to get their confidence back.

We fitted ordinary Yale personal attack alarms to doors so that opening the door pulls the pin out. The noise is enough to make us feel physically sick so it ought to scare burglars at least. The noise is not directional so you can't locate the alarm and anyway, putting a peg back in a tiny hole in the dark would be nigh impossible so the alarm goes on and on. This is in addition to normal MH alarms which are no-where near as loud.

Other than making sure all valuables are stowed out of sight at night ( perhaps in an alarmed cupboard ?) and parking safely that's all my advice. I'd not go for physically barricading myself in the van frankly as I'd be too worrried we not be able to get out in case of fire or whatever.

G


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Robbed*

Hello there,

Oh dear how sad I am sorry to hear this yet again.

Unfortunately, the thieving Bastards will go to all sorts of legnths to rob you, regardless of age or sex from what I have witnessed first hand.

Last year I received 3 attempts in just 2 weeks whilst in Spain and my brothers Freind was actually robbed nr Barcelona despite having 2 large dogs with her.

But all I can say is that this is nothing new. I was chatting to a Croatian customer of mine who was robbed whilst napping in his new Cortina 30 years ago in a German Layby.

Al I can suggest for your parents is that they continue (Try) to carry on as normal and get on with touring in their van. I suppose some extra security would help along with trying to use campsites and Aires.

Hope this helps

Trev


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## shortcircuit (Mar 19, 2006)

Just as an aside, there are a number of false floors in the various cupboards in the Kontiki as there is also access to the floor void in some places. Ideal for concealment of documents etc.


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## ActiveCampers (Jun 17, 2005)

Cheers all - I'll pass on your best wishes.

SILLY QUESTION

Has anyone ever simply wired a switch and 120db siren in series with the interior light?

e.g. simple switch on/off (if you know where switch is)

And as soon as door is open 2" - all hell breaks loose.


cheap
simple
reliable.


?


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Siren*

Good Idea, though best put one of those bright red lights in to illuminate when siren is primed (the ones that the deaf have connected to the telephones) or the old Submarine/Darkroom lights. Just in case you forget yourself!

Trev


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## LeeUK (Sep 16, 2005)

Hope they are ok and it doesnt put them off MHing but best to stay in villages, there are loads of places to stop even in the smallest of villages some with free hook up.

Lee


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## beagle (Sep 25, 2005)

Grizzly - your Yale thing sounds a good idea - are they readily available? 

sorry to hear about this happening to anyone. I felt bad enough having car broken into. Nothing much nicked, but hated the thought that someone had been there


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

beagle said:


> Grizzly - your Yale thing sounds a good idea - are they readily available?


Yes beagle. They're the ordinary rape alarms. We got ours from Tesco when they were doing their special offers for students - £1 apiece. I wouldn't be surprised if they are still stocked at that price. 
G


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

beagle said:


> Grizzly - your Yale thing sounds a good idea - are they readily available?


Hi

It was some time ago that I posted this way to protect doors cheaply using a panic attack alarm, just as Grizzly has described. They are available in Tescos for about £4.... ( smaller and different make).










mike

P.S. just found the previous thread ( from 2005 :lol: )

> Here <


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## 92859 (May 1, 2005)

*burglary*

Greetings,

Sorry to hear of your folks burglary ryanjjones, I hope they are both OK now and not deterred from traveling again.

There is some good advice on here in respect of steps to take to make the van more secure.

We have some Master lock Python adjustable cable locks on the cab, one is attached through the steering wheel and round the door handle, the other is attached around the passenger seat and through the door handle.

It would be difficult to break in because of these, but obviously it would be equally difficult to break out, but we keep the keys to hand overnight just in case.

We can always get out of the habitation door anyway, we have a Fiamma security door handle but always make sure it is locked open whilst aboard the van.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Break Ins*

Me again,

One thing that stikes me reading these posts is that a lot of effort is made by us all to secure doors, cab and habitation. However, are the plastic seitz windows not more vunerable?

Trev


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## 100626 (Aug 20, 2006)

Hi, 
Sorry to hear of your parent's ordeal, but I gather from the responses so far, that you have prompted lots of us to review our security arrangements.
So far, I have a 110Db alarm on the habitation door, with the option of a delay or not when the contact is broken, and another with PIR, ready to fit somewhere.

I favour a chain or something locking the cab doors, but following a gas explosion and fire in the kitchen the other day, I'm wary about compromising emergency egress.

Bob


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Excuse the ignorance but what does PIR stand for??



We have van bitz alarm with external LED flasher front and back and we have the Fiamma bar lock. Read somewhere that someone mentioned attaching a bell or similar to these bars or chains as an extra noise that might wake you up. If you have a Renault don't buy the new chain locks as we stupidly found out that our doors do not have hollow hand pulls on doors!

Tell your parents to stick to aires rather than lorry parks as we are always reading ...."We were parked amongst lorries." Seems to me that this is where thieves seem to attack.
Chris


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## shortcircuit (Mar 19, 2006)

PIR = Passive Infra Red

The body gives off infra-red heat and the sensor in this unit detects that heat


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## annetony (May 1, 2005)

Sorry to hear about your Parents experience,It must have been very scary, glad they are ok.
We have deadlocks on all our doors and use them except the sliding door where the bed is. As for the plastic sliding ones we have put plastic wall plugs wedged on the inside opener then they cant be opened from outside (we hope), I can also reach the kitchen drawer from my side of the bed, a sharp stab of the hand with a fork should work :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## scotsman (Oct 27, 2006)

its a shocking story and just gave me the push to do something as were heading to France for summer.
where can u buy the cables that go thru the cab door handles, i checked in wilkos once but nothing.dont want seat belt material because they could cut that and bar would be pain to store i presume
so visible cable with padlock be better i think but getting such length?
many thanks


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## UncleNorm (May 1, 2005)

*Burgled while...*

Commiserations to anyone who finds themselves in such a position.

I guess the theme has to be "prevention is better than cure".

Back on Feb 5th Humber-Traveller started a thread on this theme, asking for ideas to minimise the risk. Several M/Homers responded and offered photos, the last being 'pneumatician' who copied a simple idea and used window locks from screwfix.

Although the actual model has changed, the Frame Guard is still available, albeit now at £8.99. I've just added one to my patio door!

Best wishes from UncleNorm.


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

I am so sorry to read that, hope your parents are ok and will continue mh'ing.

Best stay away from Lorry parks, motorway service areas and any aire's that looks dodgy. 

We have been fortunate so far, even in Spain and Portugal, although 4 chaps in a car came into a service area when we were parked up for a break during lunchtime on service area near Murcia. I had door open and saw the car and chap get out. I got up to close the habitation door and he was there very quickly and would have entered if it wasn't for our Springer Spaniel who of course immediately barked , and she can bark when she's concerned, He soon moved away!

However we are off to the South of France soon so will be extra careful. We do have Heosafe locks on cab doors and alarms on windows as well as a Van Bitz Strikeback alarm which we always put on at night. We also don't go into a large supermarket together if we are in anyway concerned about the area, only one of us goes then.

Small friendly aire's or villages and not in big cities is what we go for generally.


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## 2kias (Sep 18, 2006)

We are going to France this summer for 6 weeks and have been debating staying on Aires or proper camp sites with Camping Cheque.

We have both read this posting and the decision has been made. It is camp sites for us!!!!


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

2kias said:


> We are going to France this summer for 6 weeks and have been debating staying on Aires or proper camp sites with Camping Cheque.
> We have both read this posting and the decision has been made. It is camp sites for us!!!!


It's a shame that you've been put off aires 2kias. ryanjjones' parents stopped at a truck stop not an aire. A well-set up, official aire with other MHs around should not present any problems but the motorway truck stops and car parks clearly do. Thieves find it much easier to do their stuff and then make off down the autoroute rather than rob cabs parked in a group in a small village down twisty roads.

I think the distinctions between village aires and motorways service areas are not sufficiently highlighted.

Has anyone had attempted burglaries overnight when parked in an official aire - not on the motorway ?

G


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## homenaway (Jul 27, 2005)

Sorry to hear about the theft. 

We arrived at a small municipal campsite in a quiet village Accolay near Auxerre a couple of years ago (had stayed there previously) to be told by a British caravanner that a german couple sleeping in a tent had had the tent slashed by an intruder looking for their car keys etc. We didn't see the evidence as the couple had left but everyone on the site was talking about it. I know its anecdotal as far as we were concerned but I can accept that there had been some incident during the previous night.

We do put a cable between the front doors of our Boxer but not through the door pulls. I have rivetted a couple of U shaped hook plates to the metal part of the doors near the locks (will take a photo!) Also have fitted magnetic contact switches to the sliding door wired to a "home-made" alarm. thinks - must test it brfore our next trip!!

Also the intruders would have to get into a hidden compartment to find our valuables - at least while we are sleeping !

But we still stay on aires in villages when it suits us preferably where there are other motorhomers around.

Steve


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## ActiveCampers (Jun 17, 2005)

Update:-
it was a carpark near a lorry park on motorway services.

I've passed on the advice herein to them - I'm not going to link them to here as they'll read my rude comments 

Also - they had a phone call - someone (lorry driver) on their way to Germany found her bag and personal contents (e.g. address book) in a motorway servies on the way to Germany..... They said they'd post it back.

Either
a) it restores human faith as my mother thinks
or (in my view)
b) it is likely to be the scrote who stole it who will send back the crap he idnd't want and wait for a reward.....

Regardless - they are fine and fixing the van and are going away next week...


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## 92859 (May 1, 2005)

*security*

Greetings,

Scotsman, I used to have a nylon webbing strap but decided that the door could be pulled open a fraction and a knife used to cut the webbing so............

............. I installed two Master lock, Python adjustable cable locks available from B&Q or Homebase about £20.

The cables can be seen from the outside easily and the yellow locks are prominent.

The steering wheel lock is a 4tress Thatcham approved, £40 from Halfords or £23.50 from Makro.

I always lock the Fiamma security door lock open when we are inside to prevent anyone closing it and locking us in.

The alarm is fitted with a flashing red LED but when the cab blind is closed this cannot be seen so I shall be replacing this with one on the exterior, or at least visible with the blinds closed.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

I've said it before but what I reckon is needed is something that looks, to the eye of the thief, totally new and unexpected. Any small black plastic box, with several flashing LEDs and wires going under the dashboard, does not have to be connected to anything. The thief will ( so my theory goes) look at it, reckon that he doesn't know what it will do if he disturbs it, and so leave the van alone. 

That's my theory anyway. It's a good excuse to get creative at Maplins !

G


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## Boff (May 10, 2005)

Grizzly said:


> Has anyone had attempted burglaries overnight when parked in an official aire - not on the motorway ?


Yep, we had. But it was in Netherlands and not in France. See here for details.

The aire however consisted of only 4 marked MH pitches on an otherwise ordinary car park.

No matter where you spend the night and no matter how you travel, there will always be some residual risk. Even on camp sites. But no doubt about that by far the highest risk is on large, well-illuminated motorway service stations.

I would consider the burglary risk on proper village aires and average Camping Municipals to be comparable.

Best Regards,
Gerhard


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## 101411 (Oct 15, 2006)

Just thought id throw my two penneth in here. We bought a £25.00 electronic safe and bolted it through the floor of our RV in the bottom of a wardrobe. Absolute doddle to fit, not to big and gives you a place to put your passport, credit cards etc.  

The small window alarms are extemely easy to fit and very loud as well as only costing a few quid.  

A friend of mine made a secure cable locking system for his RV. The cable locked both front doors together and secured into a modified car central locking servo mounted on the floor. The servo was linked to the RVs smoke/lpg/carbon monoxide detector as well as a panic button next to the bed and released automatically. :wink: 

It was a home made unit but worked very well and only cost him about £50.00 to make. Sadly (but not for him!!!) he has now moved abroad and was last hear of heading for Turkey!! He also has a sign in the front window in 5 different languages saying anyone caught breaking into his RV would get both legs broken!! (Hes a big bloke!!) 8O not sure if it has any effect but hes not had any problems up to now!!

Hope your folks don't let it ruin their M/Hing, there is always the other alternative of a tazzer stun gun or a cattle prod (turned up as high as it will go!!!!!) next to the bed! 8O 8O 

Hope they got on ok

Dazzer


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