Seamus Fahey (left) and David Walsh

Householders worried about having their valuables and family heirlooms stolen by burglars are being offered the opportunity to store them in a secure vault.

Edinburgh’s first privately-owned safe deposit box service has opened in the west end to help provide peace of mind to residents in the city which is a crime hotspot.

The capital has the highest number of break-ins in Scotland, according to official data. In 2017/18 there were more than 3,000 crimes or offences of house break-ins recorded, ahead of Glasgow in second place with just over 2,500. According to analysis by Moneysupermarket.com, the EH4 and EH15 areas of Edinburgh rank among the top 20 UK postcodes for insurance claims following a break-in.

Edinburgh Safe Deposit is led by Seamus Fahy and David Walsh who have invested £1 million in equipping the vault with the latest surveillance technology, including seismic shock sensors, 24/7 monitoring and biometric identification technology.

It will employ up to 15  staff and is part of a plan to expand the business across the UK and Ireland. Edinburgh Safe Deposit is run by parent company Merrion Vaults, Europe’s largest independently owned safe deposit box company. The business opened a Glasgow Vaults safe deposit service in 2016 and it also has operations in England and Ireland.

Typical items stored in a safe deposit box include cash, jewellery, family heirlooms, gold bullion, title deeds for a property, memory devices, watch collections and passports.

Mr Fahy said: “We decided to launch vaults across the UK and Ireland to fill the gap left by the move by major banks a few years ago to withdraw their service that protects people’s valuable possessions.

“Our Glasgow Vaults has proved popular since its launch four years ago, and we are confident that our Edinburgh service will be just as successful.”