One in ten would shoot a burglar to protect homes

Some people were willing to risk their lives to defend their properties against intruders, despite the threat of prosecution, but were unwilling to take simple preventative measures, the survey found.

The research from Micromark prior to National Home Security Week (August 21-27) showed eight out of ten people would use anything to hand to protect their homes if faced with an intruder, one in ten men would use a gun and one in eight would use a knife.

The vast majority of respondents (83 per cent) thought it unfair to prosecute people who protect their property with a weapon.

"This dangerous and high-risk approach is not to be condoned", says the survey, "and the clear aim of National Home Security Week is to increase awareness of the effective preventative measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of intruders gaining entry in the first place."

The cost of burglary is estimated at £2.8billion each year with the number of burglaries anywhere between 645,000 and 880,000, said the survey.

While 98 per cent of victims had home contents insurance, only 39 per cent of homeowners had any home security deterrents at all – and 45 per spent nothing on home security each year.

Although Home Office research showed alarms and CCTV to be the best deterrents with more than 80 per cent of intruders put off by them, only a small number of homes have them – less than one in five victims had an alarm system and only one in 30 had CCTV.

A total of 65 per cent added security to their property after being burgled. One in four people added an alarm with the same number installing window locks. Only one in 13 added CCTV.

Women are much more emotionally affected by burglary than men – almost half are uncomfortable being at home and almost one in three suffer anxiety and stress. More than one in six women have a dog as a burglary deterrent, twice the number of men, who rely more on locks, alarms and lighting.