The summer holidays have arrived and you may be looking forward to day trips, long weekends and even weeks away with the family.

With so much to organise – like getting your pets looked after, making sure you’ve bought the sun cream, organising travel insurance, finding the passports and packing it’s easy for home security to fall to the bottom of your list of “things to do”.

Help us beat the burglars by taking a few easy steps to protect your home.

Opportunist burglars will seize their chance if they spot a window or door left open, an empty home or a hedge which allows them to work hidden from view.

By following some simple steps you can help protect your house and garden while at home and on holiday.

Securing garden boundaries and entry points to houses, and ensuring houses look lived in while you are away can prevent burglary.

Detective Chief Inspector Martyn Triggol said: "The steps you can take to protect your home are not expensive or time-consuming.

"They are easy to implement and effective in reducing the risk of becoming a victim of burglary.

"Look at your home from the street and think about how a burglar may break in - and then take the necessary steps to deny them this opportunity.

"Thieves will use whatever they can find to break in, or find things they can use to reach higher windows.

"The effort invested now may save a great deal of inconvenience later on if you are unfortunate enough to become a burglary victim.

"Many stolen items will be irreplaceable, such as photographs stored on stolen cameras and phone numbers stored on stolen phones.

Victims may also have to spend time cancelling stolen bank cards, passports and driving licences, replacing door locks and filling out insurance claim forms."

While at home never leave open windows and doors unattended doors, even in warmer weather. If you are at the back of your house doing a spot of gardening or having a BBQ lock front windows and doors to prevent walk-in thieves.

Anyone who feels they would benefit from further advice can speak to a crime prevention officer by calling Avon and Somerset Constabulary on 101.

On holiday

• Cut the lawns before you go.
• Cancel deliveries of milk, newspapers etc, discretely - don't announce your departure to a shop full of people. Only tell people who need to know you're going away.
• Make sure your house looks occupied. It is worth getting an automatic time switches to switch lights, and a radio, on and off in downstairs or upstairs rooms.
• Mark any valuable items with your postcode or take photographs of all valuable items.
• Consider leaving small valuable items, like jewellery, on deposit at the bank, install a small floor safe.
• Don't leave valuable items like TVs, videos or stereo systems visible through windows.
• Lock the garage and shed with proper security locks, after putting all your tools safely away so they cannot be used to break into your house.
• Don't have your home address showing on your luggage for the outward journey. Put this only on the inside of your cases.
• Lock all outside doors and windows. If you have a burglar alarm, make sure it is set - and that you have told the police who the key holder is.

Register all your belongings on the national property database www.immobilise.com

Around the house

• Always secure all windows and doors when you leave your house and never leave windows and doors unattended even if you are at home.
• Fit key-operated window locks to all downstairs windows, and vulnerable ones like easily accessible upstairs windows.
• Remember to remove keys from locked windows and to keep them out of sight in a safe place.
• If you have Louvre windows glue the slats in place with epoxy resin, and fit a special louvre lock.
• If you are replacing windows - consider laminated glass – it is difficult to break.
• Don't leave ladders or tools outside, or chain them up if you have to. They could be used to break into your home
• Mark your tools with your post code and house number or the first two letters of your house name and place the details on www.immobilise.com
• Photograph valuable and unusual garden ornaments and keep these in a secure place.

In the garden

• Check for weak spots where a thief could get in - a low or sagging fence, or a back gate with a weak lock.
• Fit security lights to the outside of your home at the front and back with sensors so that they are on during the hours of darkness.
• Secure your garden shed, especially if you keep valuable items stored inside.
• Fit a strong, lockable, high gate across any side passage to stop a thief getting to the back of the house where they can work undisturbed.
• Use thorny hedges and plants along boundaries, under ground-floor windows and up drainpipes to make it harder for thieves to gain access.
• Make sure the front of your house is clearly visible from the road - neighbours and passers-by will be able to see any suspicious activity.