Security Stop at Service Areas

You could put a hitch lock on, which would make it more difficult to remove from your vehicle, and or, put on the wheel lock. Personally we do not both leave the caravan at the same time. Clearly not possible if you are alone.

Similar to SteveL; normally we don't both leave the caravan at the same time - when we do we put the hitch lock on - one of these http://www.al-ko.com/shop/uk_vt/security-device-aks-2004-3004.html which takes seconds to put on and the manufacturer claims it can be left on whilst being towed (although we have never done that)

Personally if on my own I would use the facilities in the caravan. If with partner one stays with the outfit. The only reason for us to stop would be to have a stretch and a pee.

We regularly leave the caravan and go into UK service areas, we leave it at Cribbs Causeway Bristol mall and go shopping at M&S, we leave it all over France and go to a restaurant for lunch and tour hypermarkets for hours.

My present Saga insurance just asks for a hitchlock and that's all I have, my previous insurance with  this Club was happy for eight hours with no locks at all.

Do some people worry more than I do? 

We have never left car & caravan or MH unattended in a service area. If it's necessary to leave the unit, we do so one at a time but mostly we never set foot on the tarmac these days as all we need is on board.

agreed,  ET, im sure they do.

though i realise its a bit different for a MHer to a caravanner, but we stop in towns (uk and mainland europe) to visit amenities, stop at services and have a wander, park overnight in aires (and the odd supemarket carpark), pubs etc.

if one of us had to stay with the van every time we stopped somewhere the van would become a tie rather than the means to freedom that it is.

two hours exploring a town isnt much fun on your own nor is sitting in the van waiting for OH to return from 'her turn' 

stopping 'along the way' where something (pretty village, shopping centre, historic NT/EH site, even a service station) catches our attention is part of how we tour so would be severely compromised if we had to constantly share 'guard duty'.

we just couldnt do the on spec diversions we do if we were always concerned about the safety of the van.

It's service areas I was talking about, BB, as per the OP's enquiry. The M/way service areas are notorious for cvans being removed from the towing vehicles by ne'er-do-wells.

I wasn't talking about parking elsewhere and leaving the van. 🙄

yes, thanks, TW

youll note, i even mentioned service stations in my post.

the point was that we dont have a different attitude to parking up irrespective of where we are.

i appreciate your point about the possibility of caravan theft on services (though ive not read of any) or from anywhere else parked up for that matter, but for a MHer such as yourself to leave the van in shifts seems a little over cautious, no?

what would you do in a car?

surely your van has the same security (alarm, immobiliser) as your car and to break a car window must be as easy as doing it on a MH?

if a thief wanted something from my van and were determined, i dont think my OH would scare them away while i was having a pee...

I think we've got the message that you're less aware and/or less cautious in service areas than some of us who have been doing this for decades, BB.

whatever that means....

surely my 10 years of real recent experience is more relevant than what went on 'decades' ago.....?

either way, a personal choice, and if the OP thinks its a risk (and i guess those with decades of experience will have convinced him of this) then he must take the appropriate measures.