I had a garage door lock to replace in Tamworth today and a couple of chubb locks to open in Birmingham.

The garage door in Tamworth was an up and over garage door, with a Henderson locking handle on it, which the customer hadn't opened it in over 4 years! I picked it open and replaced the handle, which has the lock fitted in it. They're now looking at having a couple of mortice locks fitted either side, as extra security.

Also had a couple of mortice (chubb type) locks to pick and replace in Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield. One job I really enjoy is picking mortice locks! There's nothing more satisfying than that feeling as the bolt "clicks" back and opens. I picked mortice locks made by Legge, Chubb, Union and ERA this week.

Unfortuneately, the main thing for me this week is that I broke my Legge decoder and it got stuck in the lock. I was on a warrant, gaining entry to a flat and was decoding the 5th and last lever, when the tip split and got stuck in the lock. Not a good move if the owner comes home at that moment, as not only are they having a warrant served on their property, but they're locked out, as the pick's stuck in the keyway. Luckily no-one turned up and I freed the pick, but I had to then drill the lock to get it open! I never like having to drill locks, it goes against the grain! Still, it opened with minimum damage, the lock still works and I've got a nice new replacement pick.