A horrifying "new trick" allows burglars to break into your home in "just seconds" as a locksmith issues an urgent warning.
The mischievous trick involves putting a magnet, or some other flat object which can be stuck, across the bolt-hole of the door of the home the burglar wants to enter during daylight hours when the occupants are still home.
Lynton Christian, a locksmith, says the move has been used to break into multiple homes and marks a worrying trend.
The trick "takes seconds", meaning homeowners could even be in the front room when the object is placed, blocking their door bolt from closing and preventing the lock from working.
All it requires is that the door is left unlocked or ajar by the homeowners for a moment and then the burglar can strike.
He said the burglars' intention is to then return to the home later, when the occupants are sleeping or out of the house, so they can enter freely due to the lack of a working lock, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Lynton, based in Wirral, Merseyside, stressed he wasn't warning people with a view to profit as a locksmith, but hoped people would take extra care to "stop, look and check," their locks before going to bed.
He said he has seen the trick used across Merseyside most recently when a small but strong magnet was placed on the bolt-hole while the homeowner had left the door ajar briefly.
It was still daytime when the man discovered the object and he had not left the house all day.
"I didn't think this was actually a thing at first," he said.
"But as I've seen in the past week I've seen it happen, or almost happen, twice to the same shop and another case with a guy who was in the house all day. Which is shocking.
"They must've hopped over his back gate, quickly threw a magnet on his open back door. Then if he hadn't have spotted the magnet, he would've probably just thought his lock was faulty.
"That's one of the reasons why I wanted to make people aware. A lot of people will just want to call the locksmith in the morning for the lock that seems broken, leaving them at risk overnight.
"I think it's now an upcoming thing. I think criminals are just trying to find new tricks.
"If your lock's off and you don't stop, look and check where the bolt goes in then there's a chance that people could be burgled, that same night even."
