Following a 20 per cent increase in burglaries between January and March, police visited thousands of homes with crime prevention advice.

Officers were carrying out the visits as part of the Met Police’s Operation Castle.

The borough usually has three to five burglaries a day and police said many of these could be avoided if residents carried out a few extra preventative methods.

West Twickenham officers delivered advice along Lincoln Avenue in Twickenham, where residents Claire and Brian Adams spoke about a recent burglary, in which two bottles of champagne were stolen from their shed, which were to wet the head of their granddaughter.

Mr Adams said: “It’s always useful. It just reminds you that there’s certain things that you need to do to protect your house.”

Jules Calvert from West Twickenham safer neighbourhood team said: “It was a really successful day. Across the borough 2,474 homes were visited.

“The response across Richmond has been really positive and I’m grateful to our residents for their enthusiasm.”

Previous burglaries have included one in Richmond when a mobile phone, handbag, purse and car keys were stolen after the victim accidently left their house keys in the front door.

On February 15, a burglar used a hammer found in an insecure shed to smash into a house and stole an Apple laptop, Mulberry handbag, purse and credit cards and damaged a Lenovo Think Pad laptop from a home in Mortlake.

Detective chief inspector Debra Towns said: “Most burglars are opportunists and if they see, what they believe to be, an empty house that has poor security they will use that to their advantage.

“Most of us keep the front of our homes looking nice, but it’s round the back where they will break in using the tools you left out or have taken from your insecure shed. Following the simple tips above will make a big difference to how a burglar views your property. ”

For more information, visit content.met.police.uk/Site/crimepreventionbumblebee or richmond.gov.uk/home/safer_communities/operation_lockout.htm.