Police are warning people to adopt Home Alone-style security measures to distract burglars.

Sussex Police have issued advice to residents following a string of burglaries across Sussex.

Actor Macaulay Culkin used a variety of tricks to fool burglars in the 1990 Christmas film.

He used noise from a gangster movie playing on the TV to pretend there were adults in the house, and officers have suggested talk radio stations could create a similar illusion that someone is home when the house is empty.

In the film, silhouetted figures danced behind closed curtains to create the illusion of a full house.

Police have also urged homeowners to use timer switches to make lights turn on and off when they’re out.

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: “With winter approaching, Sussex Police is encouraging residents to leave a light on to make it appear that someone is at home.

“Going out in the evening without putting a light on or drawing the curtains is an open invitation to the opportunist criminal.

“It doesn’t take long for a burglar to break in, often through an insecure door or window, and steal things that are easy to conceal and sell on, such as iPods, credit cards, jewellery, passports and cash.

“In addition to an automatic time switch on an indoor light, put a time switch on a radio that has been tuned in to a chat station and regularly change the timings on these switches.”

There were four burglaries in the West Green, Bewbush and Langley Green areas of Crawley on Tuesday night.

Police said they were investigating whether the break-ins were linked to a spate of burglaries last weekend.

Environmental campaigners also supported the advice from the police.

Mischa Hewitt, project manager for the Brighton-based Low Carbon Trust, said: “Security is an issue and one energy saving light or one radio is not going to break the bank.

“That might seem like a contradiction to usual energy saving advice, but you have to look at things in context.”

For further crime prevention advice, visit www.sussex.police.

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