To think that if you have guests you should leave a set of keys in an accessible place so they can get out?

[PickleMyster]

Okay, so I am currently staying at my Mum's, have gone to open back door (put something in outside bin) and can't find keys. I have had to wake her up to get out. She has all the keys to the house in her room which she had locked herself in, the house was in complete lock down.

At home I have similar doors and the first time she stayed she made a point of asking where we would leave the keys so "I can get out if I need to". We left them where we all could access them easily.

My biggest fear is fire, I would have no choice but to start breaking downstairs double glazed windows and it doesn't take long for smoke inhalation to take hold. This is not the first time this has happened, I've explained my fears, but she doesn't take any notice.

So am I being unreasonable in asking her to leave a set of keys in an accessible place?

"Our front and back door keys are both kept in dishes on the windowsill"

In full sight of a potential burglar? I would rather keep it in the lock.

My parents keep their back door key in a dish, it is just out of sight of the back door on the kitchen counter. However the dish is full of other keys, assorted coins, paperclips, you name it. I just don't think they have thought through how much harder it would be to find the right one when suffocating in smoke in the dark.

The local crime prevention officer says that you shouldn't keep keys visible in the house - on a key hook or in a dish. We keep them in the doors when in the house and hide them away when the house is empty.

My DS was burgled recently when he absent-mindedly left his keys on the hall table instead of in the little box where they are usually kept. The police told him that it was common for burglars to look through the letter box and then fish the keys out with a small fishing rod. The front door was opened his bag and his OH's handbag taken from the hall and his car stolen and used in several further burglaries.....!!!

It took a LOT of time and trouble to sort all the insurance claims out (house - all locks changed; contents - bags; and car - which was eventually recovered, but had to be checked over and have all the locks changed)..... It's also left the whole family very, very anxious - it really really isn't worth leaving your keys anywhere where they can be seen.

Could you get one of them copied?

All keys are left in the doors in our house. We don't have a letter box so a burglar can't hook them out and use them.

But everyone else I know, locks their doors then puts the key in some obscure place. Really handy if you're trying to get out of a fire in the pitch black

Key is in the door here. Im another who would rather face a burglar than a fire.
Pil used to hide keys, it terrified me especially when dcs were small. They changed the door.
We have a great big scary barkynoisy lovable dog who would tell us if someone was coming. The police once checked houses on our street to see if we were likely to be burgled, we saw them running up the drive

Keys in the doors at night here too. In blind panic in the dark and thick smoke i defy anyone to fumble around even in the hallway for a set of keys.

It would be a very awkward angle for a burglar to fish from the letterbox to get the keys out of the lock here. But you can get those 'cages' which fit over the letter box to catch the mail cant you? That would make fishing from letterbox to anywhere even harder.

I can't see how a burglar could fish a key out of our lock either.