The church in rural Lincolnshire called in Sonic Security UK, an NSI Gold installer, after large quantities of valuable lead were taken from its roof.
Now Sonic, which anticipates increased work protecting rural churches suffering from such attacks, has installed a wire free detection system which protects the building without spoiling the historic look of the architecture.
Said system assessor Mark Johnstone: “After one failed attempt to steal lead from its porch and roof, at the second attempt the thieves were successful in removing large strips of lead work from the sloping roof of the church.
“I suggested an unobtrusive wire free intruder system, which has been our speciality for a number of years.”
BoundaryGard detection from Optex Europe was selected.
Said Johnstone: ” Since we required the technology to give coverage over the front and the rear roofs we selected the Optex VX402R, the larger back box enabling us to install an 868 wireless transmitter and allow the unit to operate at 3 volts.
“Using wire free technology meant that we did not have to run cables through and around a historical building, but this was not without its problems. The thick walls meant we had a weak signal, and so we had to incorporate methods to boost the signals.
“In total we installed four units, along with a number of high output sounder units. The units were installed at the recommended height because the roofs have a slope to them; this meant they could be installed at low level so as not to be seen from the main road. When walk-testing we were able to adjust each unit to give the best coverage over the roofs whilst taking into account where the birds roost and could cause false alarm activations.
“We are located in a very rural part of the country and due to the amount of churches that are suffering with the ongoing threat of theft, we shall be attending more churches in order to help them.”
The VX402R uses multiple detection pattern technology developed from Optex Europe’s long-range external detector range that prevents false activations from small animals and birds. Two discrete detection areas are created and only when an intruder is detected in both areas is an alarm triggered.
Using the BoundaryGard VX-402REC range, installers can record a customised warning message. Sequential messages with higher degrees of warning given at various intervals can also be recorded, with the volume of each warning increased by wiring a second speaker into the detector.
