Research by shed specialists BillyOh . com has revealed that the average UK homeowner stores as much as £ 2,234 worth of valuable furniture , tools and bikes in their gardens .

They hope the news will act as a wake-up call to the scores of households who still regularly fail to provide adequate security or insurance to protect their outdoor contents .

Some of the more valuable items that are stored outside are expensive power tools , bikes for the entire family and garden furniture – all of which can be worth hundreds of pounds each .

Despite keeping these valuable purchases stored in their gardens , the public are putting themselves at risk of burglary by failing to provide proper security .

Some households are leaving their expensive purchases at risk by failing

to even provide a basic padlock on their shed ’ s door .

However , even a properly fastened lock protecting your shed won ’ t completely deter the threat of burglary , making it even more important to insure your outdoor contents .

Even with this threat , many families still fail to get necessary insurance to cover against theft – with many assuming it is automatically included in their house coverage . This means that homeowners across the UK are at

risk of losing thousands of pounds if their prized garden possessions are stolen .

A spokesperson for Billy- Oh . com said : “ Many of us use our sheds to store valuable items . The good news is modern sheds are strong and can easily be secured with a simple lock but many people fail to ensure their valuables are safe .

“ We want to remind the general public that is really is worth investing in a lock for your shed and also to check with your insurer that your shed contents are covered in your policy .

“ As this research reveals , there are literally thousands of pounds worth of goods stored away in our gardens ,

so making sure it ’ s all safe and secure is vital .

“ In some cases , we ’ ve seen households that don ’ t lock their shed at all , which seems crazy when you consider the worth of the equipment they hold .

“ Even if you have a properly secured lock on your shed ’ s door , they can still be broken into , so make sure your insurance properly covers the valuables you store inside .

“ Our advice is to never take any chances . Make sure that your shed is securely locked every night , and that the terms of your insurance plan covers your outdoors contents .”

BillyOh . com