Council issues urgent plea to alarm owners

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 28th Jul 2006

Council issues urgent plea to alarm owners

A plea to residents and businesses with intruder alarms to register their keyholder details this summer has been issued by Richmond Council. The police no longer have the legal responsibility to maintain a keyholder database and therefore may not be able to contact anyone to silence a faulty alarm.

Therefore, the Council is compiling its own keyholder list to help residents in the event of an alarm malfunction. Unfortunately, many people have still not registered their details with the Council. If someone cannot be called to turn an alarm off, the Council has the power to enter premises, by force if necessary, and switch off the system. The owner or occupier will have to meet the cost, which could run into hundreds of pounds.

Cllr Martin Elengorn, Cabinet Member for Environment, said:

'Summer is the peak season for problems with intruder alarms. Many people are away on holiday and if we cannot contact a keyholder, we can only disconnect the alarm by force and bill the owner. Faulty alarms cause serious noise nuisance and people can protect themselves by registering their contact details with us. They should also ensure alarms are properly maintained and fitted with an automatic 20-minute cut-off device.'

To register contact details call the Residential Team on 020 8891 7800 or write to the Residential Team, Richmond Council, Room 118, The Civic Centre, 44 York Street, Twickenham, TW1 3BZ, or email residentialeh@richmond.gov.uk.

For commercial premises call 020 8891 7994, write to Commercial Environmental Health, 7B Parkshot, Richmond, TW9 2RT, or email commercialeh@richmond.gov.uk.