Burglary has dropped by half in homes where an anti-theft device has been used to act as a deterrent in Hounslow.

The use of SmartWater, a liquid forensic property marking product which shows up green under UV light, has proved to have a good impact on the crime rate in Feltham North and Syon wards where it has been rolled out.

According to Met Police figures by the end of April 2016, there were 22 residential burglaries which showed a 50% fall in the crime from the previous year in these areas.

In the first year 1,726 houses have been protected and 96 signs put up.

However, in non SmartWater areas there has been a rise in burglary with 1,141 incidents reported over the same period of 12 months, up 17 from the previous year.

MetTrace, a London-wide burglary reduction initiative was launched in 2015 to protect properties using the free SmartWater kit which is a liquid containing a unique forensic code, almost invisible to the naked eye but under UV light glows a green/yellow colour.

Once SmartWater is registered to an address and a person’s valuable items are marked with it, police can prove that the item belongs to the owner by forensic analysis of the SmartWater.

It gives police a better chance of returning stolen items back to their rightful owners and catching criminals particularly those involved in theft, burglary, robbery and handling stolen goods.

In the coming year, SmartWater will be rolled out to a further 5,492 homes in Brentford, Heston Central, Heston East, Heston West, Hounslow Central and Osterley & Spring Grove wards.

And by 2018 MetTrace hopes to provide a free SmartWater kit to one in seven (or 440,000) homes across the capital.

Police in neighbouring Ealing are on the hunt for two men seen in this CCTV footage after alleged burglary.