Bazza, the house being visible from the road is no protection from break-ins and ladders are not always necessary..
Our last house was the outside of a pair of rather grand and tall Victoran semis. We were the corner house overlooking a busy crossroad, with traffic lights in the university area of town.
On a warm summer evening in broad daylight, someone shinned up a drainpipe at the front of the house. There was a small roll of brickwork sticking about 2 or 3 inches from the main wall. The burglar edged along that for about 10 feet, incuding going past one window to get to the one that was open a couple of inches. He opened the large sash window and climbed in.
He could be seen clearly by students walking up and down, cars stopped at the traffic lights, people going past the house on the top deck of buses.
When we called the police they simply would not believe that this was how he made his entry, but eventually having cjecked all the other locked doors and windows, plus the footprint, fthey were finally convinced.
As I said, being open to the road, does not stop brass-necked burglars prepared to take a risk, from getting in.
