The other bad news is that an unbelievably idiotic cylinder design became a European standard (the “Euro” profile cylinder).

The good news is that lock manufacturers have been spurred into creating some truly fearsome high-security locks, dealing with lock pickers and earlier idiotic lock designers.

The bad news is that it won’t be any good calling a locksmith to get you in if you’ve lost your keys to one of the next generation of locks. So if you do fit high-security locks give a spare key to a good friend who never goes out and never goes on holiday.