Beware the risks of using Razor Trellis

We recently stumbled across this product, which as you will see is shown installed on what appears to be a standard garden fence in a residential area. The mesh type screen is manufactured from a product known as Razorwire, which is used extensively for military, border control, and prison applications worldwide. Razor wire is manufactured from barbed steel tape, wrapped around a wire core, and is a very aggressive and effective barrier, which is often used to prevent persons from gaining access to, or used to keep people within, a defined area. Whilst we have no doubt that this product could prove a deterrent to intruders when installed properly and attached to robust support posts at each end of each mesh panel, we would urge caution regarding where it is used, as it would almost certainly cause injury to anyone attempting to climb over it - and that's the problem, ...because the use of any product which could obviously cause injury to intruders, could potentially have serious implications for the owners (or occupiers) of the premises where it is installed. Under the "Occupiers Liability Act 1984", in the event of anyone becoming injured, the owner or occupier could find themselves in court, fighting prosecution and an injury compensation claim. Different environments may be subject to different guidelines, however as a general rule of thumb, the use of aggressive or dangerous products in residential locations is unlikely to be acceptable and installation of any form of physical anti climb barrier at a height of less than 2 metres from the ground (minimum acceptable height for some applications may be higher), may be illegal. We would not recommend this aggressive product for use in residential areas, however if you still believe that it may be right for you, we would urge you to seek advice from your local police or the local authority planning department, before purchasing the product. As an alternative form of protection, you may want to consider the Insight Security range of less aggressive fence spikes and wall spikes, or the popular non-aggressive Roller Barrier anti-climb product.

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