The number of Italians calling the fire brigade after locking themselves out of their homes has risen sharply, driven by its ageing population, fire chiefs have said.
Italians stranded outside their front door without keys were saved by the fire brigade more than 164,000 times last year, up from 136,000 in 2015.
Firefighters with lockpicking equipment and pick axes are a common sight in cities such as Naples, where they are called out on average 20 times a day.
Adriano de Acutis, Rome’s fire brigade chief, said: “The phenomenon is driven by Italy’s ageing population, which has led to an increase in the number of people who live alone and might be more likely to forget their keys.”
Italy has the oldest population in the European Union, with an average age of over 48 as its birth rate stalls. About one in four Italians are over 65 and nearly 8 per cent are over 80.
Liguria, in the north, which hosts a high number of elderly residents, is one of the top regions for people forgetting their keys. Firefighters in Genoa, a city in the region, receive more than 5,000 calls a year and have set up special squads to deal with locked-out pensioners. Sunday at about 7pm is the most likely time that Italians call the fire brigade after locking themselves out ALAMY The town of Alessandria, further north in Piedmont, topped the chart with 70 emergencies recorded last year for every 10,000 residents, according to statistics issued by the Italian fire brigade, eight more than in Genoa. After putting out fires and tackling explosions, locked door call-outs are now the biggest activity for the fire brigade, ahead of car crashes and gas leaks. In Florence, the fire brigade keeps a blacklist of repeat callers and reportedly denies assistance after too many requests. “We only intervene if someone is locked out after leaving the gas on, or a child is inside unattended or if an elderly person risks their health,” a fire brigade spokesman said. “Otherwise we tell the caller to phone a locksmith, so our statistics don’t show the real picture.” The elderly are not wholly to blame for the phenomenon. Firefighters in Perugia report a large number of panicky calls from the student population. Sunday at about 7pm is the most likely time that Italians lock themselves out with August being the busiest month. De Acutis said the growing number of calls were also linked to the breakdown of neighbourhood networks, which once allowed residents to ask around for help when they shut themselves out. “There was a time you knew your neighbours better and had family living nearby who probably had a spare key. Now in Rome, many neighbouring flats are Airbnbs,” he said. “You probably also knew who your local locksmith was. “The bottom line is that in the past, people left their front doors open.”