Christmas tree fires and social media major risks to home security

One in six homes will be empty over Christmas and New Year

Leaving Christmas tree lights on could be a fire risk (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

More than a quarter of people in Britain planning to leave their homes over Christmas say they will leave their tree lights on so that the property appears occupied, according to new research from Santander Insurance.

Richard Al-Dabbagh, Santander Insurance, said: "It's importantto protect your home over the festive period as darker nights andan abundance of valuable gifts mean that burglary and opportunisticcrime is rife at this time of year. However, leaving Christmas treelights on for prolonged periods is a potential fire hazard."

Around 4.5 million homes will be vacant for more than 24 hoursover the festive period, according to the survey which alsorevealed that the use of social networking sites over the festiveseason could compromise home security - 43 per cent of people whowill leave their homes unoccupied intend to post updates abouttheir whereabouts.

Thirty per cent of those planning to go away say they willupdate their Facebook status with a message about where they areand one in 10 will tweet about it. A further two per cent say theywill use other social networking sites to inform people about theirwhereabouts.