I'm in need of some help here - Googling hasn't helped.

I rent a flat in Nottingham which has been advertised with a secure car park.

My car was broken in to before Christmas along with two others on the same night in this 'secure' car park, then coming back from university yesterday there was a sign in the lift saying "3 cars were broken into on the night 9th january..." One of those cars was parked next to mine and again last night I heard what sounded like somebody's car window being broken - although it could equally be the pub next door.

The worrying thing is, if they can get into the car park, they can get into any flats as there is no extra locks/fobs needed to get from car park to flats - just a single lock on the flat doors, which if I'm honest, aren't great either!

I'm paying £3-5 per WEEK extra on rent (compared to flats without parking spaces) for this secure car parking space which turns out it isn't at all along with £70 insurance excess whenever my car gets broken in to. I'm currently writing a letter to the group that manages these flats complaining about lack of security.

So, what is the definition of a secure car park? - All the car park here has is some large metal gates operated by a fob which stay open so long it's easy for someone to walk straight in behind a car without being seen, there is also no CCTV.

I guess the problem is as soon as someone has got it it's pretty difficult to see what's going on from the outside so no one's going to notice a thief breaking in. You'd probably have better luck parking on the road under a streetlight.

I'd say it'd definitely need CCTV, but that needs to be monitored too really. I don't think you'll ever really be able to stop people getting in though. And it sounds like it needs another set of locked doors between the carpark and the flats, that doesn't seem secure at all!

Quote from pb32000 :

I guess the problem is as soon as someone has got it it's pretty difficult to see what's going on from the outside so no one's going to notice a thief breaking in. You'd probably have better luck parking on the road under a streetlight.

Problem with that is I'm in Nottingham City Centre, so it's heavily restricted parking on meter for maximum 3 hours. Only Sundays and evenings are unrestricted free parking - so will be a pain in the arse moving the car out of the car park every night and back in in the morning.

sounds like this place has been falsely advertised.

it needs: big gates + walls + cctv + gaurds to be concidered safe let alone secure.

Frankly the fact you haven't demanded your car repaired + money back seeing as the car park isn't as described is beyond me...

Quote from theirishnoob :

sounds like this place has been falsely advertised.

it needs: big gates + walls + cctv + gaurds to be concidered safe let alone secure.

Frankly the fact you haven't demanded your car repaired + money back seeing as the car park isn't as described is beyond me...

That's what I plan on doing once I get an 'official' definition of a secure car park, so they can't claim it's secure already. Scoured the internet looking for such a definition and I just get a list of secure public car parks.

I very much doubt I'd get any money back from them, I just want to hear what they're going to do to remedy the situation. The only reason I left it until now was because I've been up and down the country over Christmas and new year, I'd completely forgotten about it until the notice in the lift yesterday.

My contract here ends at the end of June - I've already said I'm not renewing it because of what's gone on.

A: Keep a large, hungry dog in your car.

B: Hire the car out as rooms for the homeless, you'll make some cash and also be able to onsell the security to other users.

C: Booby traps, park a wreck there primed to burst into flames when touched.

The problem is your locals have learned it's an easy touch doing your 'secure' cars.

I've had success with having a cheap, unlocked car (saves damage on entry) with a removable stereo and imobilised.

Sound's like a wonderful area to live in ....................:tit:

Quote from Racer X NZ :

I've had success with having a cheap, unlocked car (saves damage on entry) with a removable stereo and imobilised.

Something you've typed has actually made sense. Well done!

Quote from mr_x :

The worrying thing is, if they can get into the car park, they can get into any flats as there is no extra locks/fobs needed to get from car park to flats - just a single lock on the flat doors, which if I'm honest, aren't great either!

It is possible that someone in the flats is behind the break ins. We had secure parking when I was at uni (to be secure it needs to have a fence and lockable gates), and there was a spate of break ins one semester, the guy behind them was a student, after he was kicked out of uni the break ins stopped.

Quote from Racer X NZ :

I've had success with having a cheap, unlocked car (saves damage on entry) with a removable stereo and imobilised.

I now do something similar with my Car since it got broke in. When the guy bust in, he tried to gain access to my glove box, but I locked it. To get in, he then smashed up with glove box, which resulted in damage to the surrounding dash and trim. It was a very time consuming job to replace all the damaged parts.

Now I just leave the glove box unlocked. No point in locking it if the thief will just smash it up to gain access anyway.

Make sure you take everything out of sight: GPS, phone holsters, anything in the backseat, plugged into the cigarette lighter etc. If a thief sees nothing they want, it's not a target. Do you have an alarm on your car? If you're willing to spend some extra cash on it, I'd go for an alarm kit. It would deter the thief away.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

It is possible that someone in the flats is behind the break ins. We had secure parking when I was at uni (to be secure it needs to have a fence and lockable gates), and there was a spate of break ins one semester, the guy behind them was a student, after he was kicked out of uni the break ins stopped.

The police are pretty certain it's homeless people looking for something to nick for a quick sell - like sat navs. It's a pretty big problem for the whole of Nottingham at the minute (apparently there was an item on the local news about it), and flats with underground car parks are being targeted the most as they can do their 'business' without being seen from flat windows.

Quote from imthebestracerthereis :

Make sure you take everything out of sight: GPS, phone holsters, anything in the backseat, plugged into the cigarette lighter etc. If a thief sees nothing they want, it's not a target. Do you have an alarm on your car? If you're willing to spend some extra cash on it, I'd go for an alarm kit. It would deter the thief away.

Yeah the car has a factory fitted alarm. The thing is there's another Ford Focus within sight of my flat with an alarm that goes off at will pretty much whenever it wants to, so when I heard the alarm go I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep.

I do usually keep everything out of sight, the only thing that was in sight was a mobile phone charger which was on the floor after use earlier in the day, which was moved from the floor to the drivers seat.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Something you've typed has actually made sense. Well done!

it doesnt, if they cant take it, they'll wreak it.

Your point - is invaild.

Quote from mr_x :

The police are pretty certain it's homeless people looking for something to nick for a quick sell - like sat navs. It's a pretty big problem for the whole of Nottingham at the minute (apparently there was an item on the local news about it), and flats with underground car parks are being targeted the most as they can do their 'business' without being seen from flat windows.

That is just the police's way of saying "we're too lazy to actually do anything about the crimes, because there is too much paper work involved. So it isn't our problem buddy."