Kentish Town Locksmiths Service Team
Local locksmith team
21 Oct 2026 10 min read
If you live in Kentish Town or the surrounding streets of Camden, the chances are your front door has a euro cylinder — that small, barrel-shaped lock core that sits in the centre of uPVC and composite doors across North London. It is one of the most common lock types on the market, and for years it was considered perfectly adequate. The problem is that a technique called lock snapping has made the basic euro cylinder one of the easiest locks for a burglar to defeat, often in under a minute and without making much noise. Understanding why that happens, and what an anti-snap cylinder actually does to stop it, is the first step towards making a genuinely informed decision about your home security.
This guide explains the mechanics of cylinder snapping in plain terms, breaks down what the TS007 star ratings on lock packaging actually mean, and walks you through the signs that your own door may need an upgrade. Whether you are a homeowner on Fortress Road, a tenant in a flat off Kentish Town Road, or a landlord managing a property near Parliament Hill, the information here is practical and directly relevant to the kind of doors found in this part of London.
## Why Euro Cylinders Snap — and Why It Matters for Locksmith London Calls
A standard euro cylinder is designed with a deliberate weak point — a small sacrificial groove that sits just proud of the door face when the cylinder is correctly fitted. The groove is a manufacturing feature that allows the cylinder to be replaced easily. The trouble is that burglars discovered this groove can be exploited with nothing more sophisticated than a pair of mole grips and a screwdriver. By snapping the outer section of the cylinder off at that groove, the internal cam that holds the lock bolt retracts, and the door swings open. The whole process is fast, almost silent compared with kicking a door, and leaves minimal visible damage until daylight — which is why it became the break-in method of choice across London and other UK cities.
The Metropolitan Police documented a significant rise in cylinder-snap burglaries through the 2010s, particularly on roads with uPVC-fronted terraces and conversions — exactly the housing stock found throughout the NW5 and NW3 postcode districts around Kentish Town. When our team at Kentish Town Locksmiths responds to a break-in or a lock change London call, a snapped euro cylinder is one of the most frequent things we find. The good news is that the solution — fitting a snap-resistant cylinder — is straightforward, is not disruptive to your door, and does not require any changes to your handle or frame.
## TS007 Star Ratings: What the Numbers on the Packet Actually Tell You
TS007 is the British Standard for the security rating of cylinders and door hardware. It was introduced specifically to address lock snapping and related attack methods, and it grades products on a star scale. A one-star rating covers the cylinder alone and means it has been tested against snapping, picking, drilling, and bumping. A two-star rating is awarded to a cylinder combined with a high-security door handle or escutcheon plate — the external furniture around the lock. A three-star rating is the highest and can be achieved either by combining a one-star cylinder with a two-star handle, or in some cases by a cylinder that is so robust it reaches three stars on its own. When a locksmith London homeowner asks what lock to fit, the answer for a uPVC or composite front door is almost always: aim for TS007 3-star total protection.
It is worth knowing that TS007 is separate from the older BS3621 standard. BS3621 applies to rim locks and mortice deadlocks — the kind of Yale-type nightlatches and five-lever mortice locks found on traditional timber doors — and is frequently required by home insurers. If your insurer specifies BS3621, that relates to your mortice or rim lock, not your euro cylinder. If you have a uPVC or composite door with a multipoint locking mechanism, your euro cylinder is the relevant component, and TS007 3-star is the benchmark to look for. If you are unsure which standard applies to your policy, it is worth checking with your insurer before any door lock replacement London work is carried out, so the new hardware meets their requirements from day one.
## How to Tell if Your Door Needs an Anti-Snap Upgrade — a Practical Check
Stand outside your front door and look at the lock cylinder. If it protrudes more than a few millimetres beyond the surface of the door furniture — the escutcheon or the handle plate — it is a risk. That exposed section is what a burglar grips to snap the cylinder. Many properties in Camden and Kentish Town have cylinders that stick out by a centimetre or more, particularly on older uPVC doors where the original cylinder has never been replaced. Next, check whether the cylinder has any markings. A reputable anti-snap cylinder will usually carry a kite mark, a star rating, or the manufacturer's security designation stamped on the face. If the cylinder is unmarked or carries no rating, it is almost certainly a basic unit.
Beyond the visual check, consider the age of the door and the history of the property. If you have recently moved in, had a tenancy change, or are a landlord whose letting agent organised the last lock change London, you may not know the precise specification of the cylinder currently fitted. A quick call to our team is the easiest way to get a straight answer — we can carry out a free security assessment as part of any visit. It is also worth looking at your door handle. If you currently have a plain lever handle with no reinforced escutcheon behind it, upgrading to a two-star handle at the same time as fitting a one-star anti-snap cylinder brings you to the TS007 3-star total — the most cost-effective way to reach the highest protection level. If you are concerned and do not want to wait, call us now on 020 7871 7825 — we answer around the clock and can arrange a visit the same day, including evenings and bank holidays.
## uPVC Door Lock Repair London: What Happens During an Anti-Snap Cylinder Replacement
Replacing a euro cylinder is one of the cleaner, less disruptive lock jobs a locksmith carries out. There is no need to remove the door, dismantle the frame, or interfere with the multipoint mechanism itself. With the door open, our engineer removes two screws from the edge of the door, withdraws the small retaining screw from the face plate, turns the existing cylinder to the unlocked position, and slides it out. The new anti-snap cylinder drops into the same housing, the screws are refitted, and the job is done. On a standard uPVC door the whole process typically takes fifteen to twenty minutes.
Where things become more involved is on doors where the cylinder has already been snapped, leaving part of the barrel trapped inside the housing, or on composite doors with non-standard cylinder sizes. Some older uPVC doors on Kentish Town's Victorian conversion flats use cylinders of an unusual length to suit a thick door slab, and ordering the right size matters for both security and function — a cylinder that is too short will not engage the cam properly; one that is too long reintroduces the exposed section that makes snapping possible. This is exactly why our experienced engineers measure before ordering parts, and why any upvc door lock repair London quote we give covers the correct-specification component from the outset. We confirm an exact price before anyone travels to you, so there are no surprises when the job is done.
## Emergency Locksmith London and 24 Hour Locksmith London: When You Need Help Right Now
Lock snapping does not give you much warning. If you come home to find your door ajar and a pile of snapped metal on the mat, you need an emergency locksmith London response rather than a next-day appointment. Our team operates around the clock — midnight on a Tuesday, early on a Sunday morning, over the Christmas bank holiday — because that is when emergencies happen. We serve Kentish Town and the wider NW5 area, and we are usually with you in around 30 minutes of your call. If the cylinder has been snapped and the door will not close securely, we treat the call as urgent: we will fit a new anti-snap cylinder on the same visit so the property is secure before we leave.
It is also worth knowing what to do in the minutes before we arrive. Do not leave the property unattended if the door cannot be secured — if you have a neighbour you trust, ask them to wait with you. Do not attempt to force the door further or remove debris from the lock housing yourself, as this can occasionally make the engineer's job harder. If you believe a burglary has taken place, call 999 first and report it to the police before anything else. Once that is done, our 24 hour locksmith London line is 020 7871 7825 — give us your location and we will dispatch the nearest available engineer straight away. For non-emergency situations — perhaps you want to upgrade your locks as a precaution rather than following a break-in — we are equally happy to arrange a convenient daytime appointment at a time that suits you.
Frequently asked questions
My front door has a multipoint lock — does it still need an anti-snap cylinder?+
Yes. The multipoint mechanism gives you multiple bolts that engage the frame at several points, which is excellent protection in its own right. But all of those bolts are ultimately released by the same euro cylinder. If that cylinder is a standard, unrated unit, a burglar can snap it and retract the entire mechanism just as they would on a single-point lock. The anti-snap cylinder protects the one component that controls all the others, so fitting one is essential regardless of how many locking points your door has.
How do I know what size cylinder to order before a locksmith visits?+
You can measure your existing cylinder yourself by opening the door and counting the millimetres from the centre of the fixing screw to each end of the barrel — this gives you the two figures that make up the cylinder size, written as something like 35/45. That said, it is easy to measure incorrectly, particularly on doors where the cylinder sits at an angle or the existing unit has already been partially damaged. Our engineers carry a range of common sizes and can confirm the correct specification on arrival, so you do not need to source parts in advance.
Will fitting an anti-snap cylinder affect my home insurance?+
It is likely to work in your favour rather than against you. Many insurers specify that cylinder locks on uPVC and composite doors should meet TS007 3-star or equivalent, and some will only pay out on a forced-entry claim if the locks fitted met a recognised standard. Upgrading to a rated anti-snap cylinder and a two-star handle strengthens your position with your insurer. We recommend checking your policy wording or speaking directly to your insurer so you know exactly which standard they require — that way the parts we fit are confirmed to satisfy your policy before the job begins.
I am a tenant — can I ask my landlord to upgrade the cylinder, and what if they refuse?+
You absolutely can, and it is a reasonable request given that cylinder snapping is a well-documented method of break-in. Put your request in writing to your landlord or letting agent, referencing the TS007 standard, so there is a record. Most responsible landlords will act on it, particularly if the property falls within a borough where burglary rates are cited in local crime data. If your landlord is unresponsive and you feel the property is insecure, it is worth raising the matter with your letting agent or, in persistent cases, contacting Camden Council's private rented sector team. We are happy to advise landlords and tenants alike — call 020 7871 7825 and we can talk through the options without any obligation.
