Yale Certified Safe YSM Lost Keys

We were called to open this Yale Certified Safe at a Pharmacy in Wirral, Merseyside as the key had been lost. What we weren’t told was that a previous company had already spent four hours drilling holes into it and had to give up. This changed our game plan which was to pick the lock open without causing any damage to the safe as we usually do. The safe had already been destroyed at this point but we still went with an approach that would cause minimal damage and opened it with a single small hole. We have blanked out our method in the picture for security, the holes that can be seen were already present when we arrived on site.

The moral of the story is to research your safe engineer before letting someone loose with a drill. Are they members of trusted trade associations such as the Master Locksmiths Association (MLA) or the Safe and Vault Technicians Association (SAVTA)? Do they have experience with the same safe that you need opening? Ask them how they plan to open it and if drilling is their first or only method then consider getting a second opinion.

Chubb ProGuard Safe Lost Keys

We had a late call out to this Chubb ProGuard safe with lost keys at a well known pizza restaurant in Manchester. We picked the lock open and provided a new set of keys for the lock.

Hilka Digital Home Safe S-50EA(II)

The key and combination had been lost to this Hilka Digital Home Safe S-50EA(II) in Lytham St Annes due to a bereavement and we were asked to sort out the problem. We picked the lock open and changed the cylinder to provide a new set of keys and reset the combination to put it back into service.

Digital Home Safe Lost Key

The owner of this Digital home safe in Ormskirk, Lancashire could not open his safe. The last time it was opened it seemed that the batteries were flat so he changed them and locked it up again. Unfortunately the digital lock would no longer open the safe and the key had been lost. We arrived on site twenty minutes after receiving the call and had it open within a couple of minutes. We tested the batteries which all showed to have sufficient power and had to advise that it was beyond economical repair due to the low cost of a new unit and the lack of availability of spare parts.

Securikey Safeguard Under Floor Safe Lost Keys

The keys had been lost to this Securikey Safeguard under floor safe in Ramsbottom. We attended the job the same evening as the call came in as it urgently required opening. Having picked the lock open we rekeyed it to provide a new set of keys.

Sentry F2300 Waterproof Fire Chest Lost Keys

The keys had been lost to this Sentry F2300 Waterproof Fire Chest in Ashton-in-Makerfield. We attended the private residence and opened it without damage so that the owners could retrieve their documents.

Fort Knox (Russell Hare Ltd) Safe No Keys

The owners of this Fort Knox under floor safe had been aware of it since they moved into the property many years ago but had only just decided to get it opened. We attended the job in Rochdale, Greater Manchester and picked the lock open for them revealing that it contained a small sum of money. We have opened many of these Fort Knox safes but this is the first one we have seen with “Russell Hare Ltd 159 Islington Liverpool” on the escutcheon. The best we can tell is that this company sold typewriters and must have had a sideline selling safes which they had their name added to.

Churchill Treasurechest Safety Deposit Box Lost Keys

We were called by a Solicitors firm in Manchester who required this Churchill Treasurechest safety deposit box opening as part of a deceased estate. The family were unable to find the key so the bank had released the box to be opened at their leisure. Other companies had advised that the box would need to be destroyed in order to get the contents out, we were a bit more subtle and picked the lock open causing no damage whatsoever.

Milners Safe Missing Keys

When a restaurant in Warrington needed keys for their safe they called us to sort it out. We gave the lock a good service and cut new keys by hand so they could continue using this old Milners safe.

Samuel Withers Safe Opening

This Samuel Withers Safe at a home in Winstanley, Wigan hadn’t been opened for at least 40 years. It was inside the house when they moved there in the 70’s and potentially hadn’t been opened for a good while before that. Quite rightly the owner now realised that it was a safety risk to have a locked safe without a means to open it under duress and was also curious as to its contents.

We were not the first company to be called to this job, the previous engineer advised that the lock was seized and that the safe would need to be drilled open. After a disagreement with them the owner contacted us and we went to perform the opening. The exterior of the safe looked quite rusty from the pictures but surprisingly the interior of the lock looked remarkably clean when inspected with our optical equipment which is small enough to fit through the narrowest of key ways and give us a clear view of the inner workings. With a suitable pick selected we noted that the lock was responding well to the picking process and proceeded to pick it open in a short period of time.

With the lock open we faced the next hurdle of getting the locking boltwork to retract by turning the handle which was stiff but without too much of a fight we got the handle to move to unlock the door. The final hurdle was to get the door to open which was the hardest part of the job, with some lubrication and some gentle persuasion however we got it to swing.

The owner found some interesting old paperwork inside and we were happy to have performed another non-destructive opening as we always endeavour to do.