Garforth locksmith saves the day

A quick-thinking locksmith saved the day for a Garforth woman - by copying her keys from memory.
A delighted Suzanne with locksmiths Mark and PaulA delighted Suzanne with locksmiths Mark and Paul
A delighted Suzanne with locksmiths Mark and Paul

Suzanne Whitham was visiting an estate agent on Main Street when she accidentally locked her car and house keys inside her vehicle.

In a panic, she popped into the nearby Garforth Cobbler shop for help.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Business owner Mark Horne and colleague Paul Thompson initially thought they might have to pick the lock or smash the car window to retrieve the keys - but then decided to attempt to cut a new key by memory alone.

"The keys were in the ignition and we could see the house key hanging down, so we could gauge the height and castle cuts. It was the first time I've ever attempted it," said Mark, of South Milford.

"It only took about five minutes - the first time it didn't work, so the second time we made a deeper cut and re-cut the key, and it worked straight away. It was just by sight and guesstimating!"

The pair's intervention meant that Susan was able to retrieve her spare car keys from her home and access the locked vehicle, which also contained her purse.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"She was quite happy! We charged her £10 but she gave us £20 and 12 cans of beer. I'm confident I could do it again if I had to.

"We do a lot of locksmith jobs for estate agents, people come to us with a lot of problem jobs, and we can generally sort them out.

"Paul tried picking the lock at first, and we were thinking we might have to smash the window! She would have probably had to call the AA out if it hadn't worked.

"Susan only lives about 400 yards from the shop, so we're hoping she might become a regular!"

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Posting on the Facebook group Garforth Gossip, Susan thanked the pair for their assistance.

"Just wanted to say a massive thank you to the amazing guys at Garforth Cobblers. I had a very special moment and managed to lock my purse, car key and house key in my car on Garforth Main Street, but down to these guys' awesome skills, they managed to cut me a house key by looking through the window of my car and copying the house key on my key set, so I could get into my house and get my spare car key! Thanks guys, absolute diamonds."

Related topics: