'Err... Sorry to wake you up at 2am - your house is easy to break into': POLICE find ways into homes at night to 'warn' of burglary risks

Sleeping householders are going to be woken up in the middle of the night to discover someone breaking into their house - only to discover it is the police.



Police in Shoebury, Essex, have been going round testing doors and windows of houses to check if they have been left unlocked - and if they find an easy way in they will wake up the household to warn them their house is insecure.

The new police campaign is aimed at warning people of the dangers of late-night break ins - but predictably, those who have been woken have not been happy so far.

The people of Leigh-on-Sea and Shoebury in Essex have something else to fear in the middle of the night... The police...

An officer in Shoebury, Essex, woke up a builder in the early hours of the morning after discovering his van - which at the time was full of expensive work tools - had been left unlocked overnight.

But the van-owner took offence at the police for interrupting his slumber - despite the potentially invaluable security advice - and they were forced to cut short their home security briefing.

On the prowl: Officers will be checking for unlocked properties then waking the owners

Still, Essex Police have vowed to stick by the controversial tactic as it roles it out in other towns across the county.

Inspector Matt Bennett, from Essex Police’s Southend Division, defended the move saying: 'If there’s a security issue with the property we will make a decision as to the necessity to inform the homeowner.

'We will investigate and we make no excuses about that, because I would like someone to get me up at 2.30am if they found my property insecure. What we won’t do is just leave if we’ve identified an insecure house or vehicle.

'Any approach will be done in the right way. We are not there to scare people, but what’s the alternative?

'You leave it and they end up thousands of pounds worse off.'

Residents in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, look set to be next in line for late night wake up calls from their local coppers as the controversial scheme spreads across the county.