Sturry, Kent · CT2
Scrap yard security: risks, requirements and specification
High-value metal stock stored outdoors, large perimeters and vehicle movements create ongoing exposure to both theft of stock and unauthorised access to hazardous areas. This page sets out what a Sturry scrap yard should be asking for, and where vehicle barrier systems fit into it.
- Sector: scrap yards
- Lead service: CCTV systems
- Exposure: Overnight and weekends, when the yard is unattended, see the most theft attempts.
Primary risk
High-value metal stock stored outdoors, large perimeters and vehicle movements create ongoing exposure to both theft of stock and unauthorised access to hazardous areas.
First priority
Detection across high-value stock piles out of hours
Common pitfall
Relying on general perimeter fencing as the main deterrent while leaving actual detection thin across a site that's large enough for an intruder to move around undetected.
Non-negotiables for this trade
This is the part that turns a shopping list into a specification.
- Scrap metal dealer licensing conditions typically require identification and recording of sellers, which cameras can support
The threat in practice
High-value metal stock stored outdoors, large perimeters and vehicle movements create ongoing exposure to both theft of stock and unauthorised access to hazardous areas.
Exposure window: Overnight and weekends, when the yard is unattended, see the most theft attempts.
The remedial job we get called to
Relying on general perimeter fencing as the main deterrent while leaving actual detection thin across a site that's large enough for an intruder to move around undetected.
Priority items, with the reasoning
- Detection across high-value stock piles out of hours
- Non-ferrous metal in particular is targeted specifically and benefits from its own zone of coverage.
- Full perimeter camera coverage with overlapping fields of view
- Large open yards need continuous coverage rather than isolated cameras with gaps between them.
Boundaries worth knowing now
Being straight about the boundary costs less than discovering it after an incident.
- A barrier controls vehicles; it does nothing to stop a pedestrian walking around or under the arm.
How vehicle barrier systems apply here
A powered arm or rising barrier that physically blocks a vehicle route until released by a permitted trigger, controlling who can drive in or out rather than who can walk through.
- Business yards restricting out-of-hours vehicle movement
- Sites needing a visible, physical deterrent rather than a purely electronic one
The support call this sector makes most: access control door not locking after closing
Once a system has been in a while, diagnose a door that fails to secure itself after someone passes through is a common reason for a scrap yard to ring.
Usually it comes down to lock power timing mismatch, the unlock relay may hold power slightly longer than the door needs to swing, so it re-locks before the leaf is fully closed.
Before booking anyone, watch the door close fully by hand without the reader involved, listening for a clean latch click.
Sturry in practice
Sturry work tends to cluster near Sturry railway station and the River Stour bridge, where the housing stock is mostly post-war estates and modern Hersden-edge developments, and that mix decides where cable can run and where detection earns its place.
An alternative worth weighing up
- Bollards
- The requirement is occasional vehicle exclusion rather than routine controlled access.
Sturry questions we get asked
Scrap yard security: risks, requirements and specification
Local detail for Sturry
- Quotations itemised so each part can be questioned
- Remote assistance available for setting and app problems
- Independent installer based in Chatham, Kent
Ask for the reasoning, not just a price
Send a site plan or a few photographs of the elevations and we can sketch the coverage before travelling.
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