I don't know what research our law lords carried out, if any, before giving our apprentice burglars one burglary free of prison.

Maybe they strolled around a supermarket and saw "Buy one, get one free", which sparked the idea.

There have been other burglary-control ideas, of course, which have met with varying degrees of success, one being Hitler's novel approach. After seizing power, he said he would hang the next 12 convicted burglars, which he did.

After that, not only did German citizens find they did not need to lock their front doors, they also found they did not need a front door. In the meantime, under the British system, the steel I have added to my front door makes it a

little difficult to open.

Hanging 12 burglars is, of course, extreme though and I personally would start off with only six.

-J B Porter, Lansdowne Place, Hove