In November 2019, The Sun newspaper reported on a growing trend with burglars who are using blowtorches to enable access into homes.
Finesse customers though can rest assured that their doors are not susceptible to ‘blowtorch attack’, to be honest we have not actually seen evidence of one of these attacks with our own eyes – until this week.
What is a blowtorch attack?
A blowtorch attack is an extension of the more commonly known ‘snap attack’ which we have seen numerous examples of in the West Midlands over the years. A snap attack is where an intruder gains entry by snapping the locking cylinder. A key component of this form of attack is the necessity to grip the locking cylinder with a suitable implement, this is often difficult to do due to the fact that the bulk of the cylinder body is largely inaccessible as it is behind the UPVC face of the door sash; This is where the blowtorch comes in.
For obvious reasons we are not going to share too much information here but suffice to say that a blowtorch is used to essentially widen the access into the UPVC in order to gain better access to snap the cylinder; It is a very crude method of attack and clearly leaves the door in a very poor state of repair.
How can a Finesse door stand up to this type of attack?
The Master Locksmiths Association are very clear in how to prevent blowtorch burglary; in simple terms ‘Fit a SS312 Diamond Approved Anti-Snap cylinder to to your uPVC Door.’
Every Finesse door is fitted with a high security Ultion cylinder and is therefore impervious to this type of attack. During an attempted break in, a special double pin inside the cylinder fires in such a way that the cylinder cannot be snapped; this is true regardless of the attempted method of entry, assisted by blowtorch or not, with the same result.
We insist on using Ultion cylinders because we care about the products we design, manufacture and install in your home. Ultion is listed on the Master Locksmiths Association website as the most secure cylinder available and it has been specifically designed to combat this type of attack. Please see this video which helps to explain more about the unique design of Ultion cylinders
We recognise that the security of your home is one of the most important considerations when deciding which company to choose to take care of your home improvement projects – We will never compromise on your security.
For more information regarding this topic please click here to visit the Master Locksmiths Association website.
We would be delighted to speak to you if you have any questions regarding your home security – please call on 0121-451-3724.