Allotment thievery

[MelanieSW]

On our allotment site we've sadly had more and more incidents of stuff being nicked - not just produce, but people have had tools, watering cans and hoses, scrap wood, homemade planters, stepping stones disappear recently.

Has anybody got experience with CCTV systems for allotments, or recommendations for individual cameras? Or any other ideas for deterrents ...

[Andraste]

Bit of a 'bump' post by me really to prompt for ideas from others.

Are you allowed sheds/storage on your site? We have a metal shed & on rare occasions when others have had break-ins, they've left ours alone & gone for the wooden sheds (although the metal's so thin it wouldn't put up much resistance to cutting, our oiks seem to prefer a crowbar entry). We make sure to put everything we can away & never leave anything of value like machinery etc. at the site.

A family member who has a plot on a site with no sheds etc. allowed dug a pit he put a storage box into that's big enough for his spade etc. so it doesn't protrude above ground level - you'd never think it was there.

We're lucky that our site fairly small & many don't know it's there which helps & we also have a decent height fence around the site but it's climbable for those inclined.

You could think about something on a smaller scale to keep the cost down - maybe a motion activated wildlife style camera at strategic points?

[Florence Fennel]

I'm sorry to hear about the thieving Melanie. I have had many solar lights and ornaments pilfered from my garden, but never had my shed, where my tools and lawn mower are stored, broken into thank goodness and touch wood.

Allotments close by me have signs around the perimeter "Security cameras and alarms in operation" - even though my friend, who has an allotment on the site, tells me they aren't!

I hope you report these incidents to the police.

[Nicos]

Sorry to hear about this.
No experience with cameras though I’m afraid…but we used to have a lottie neighbour who cycled to his plot ( we took tools in our car so didn’t need to leave anything there)
He had one of those blue water barrels dug into the ground so you couldn’t see it…and left things in there with the lid hidden by a ripped tarp and bits of rotten wood.
Might be a temporary solution ?

[nick the grief]

my old mate used to take his tools back with him in his car and his shed was filled with all sorts of junk. He always said "if anyone breaks in they'll get buried in all sorts of crap"

[MelanieSW]

my old mate used to take his tools back with him in his car and his shed was filled with all sorts of junk. He always said "if anyone breaks in they'll get buried in all sorts of crap"

I have to admit it would be similar if someone broke into my little shed on the Lottie
But may look into a wildlife cam

[JoaoLeaftide]

Honestly the taking tools home every time is the only thing that actually works. It's a pain but once someone nicks a decent spade you never really trust leaving anything again. The fake camera signs do seem to put some people off though, cheaper than the real thing at least.