Beijing - Residential property managers in northern China have turned to butter in their battle against burglars as a cheap alternative to repairing their broken surveillance system.
They smeared 100kg of butter on the gas pipelines that run outside the buildings on the Mingdemen estate in the city of Xi'an, making them too slippery to climb, Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
"Natural gas pipelines are often used as 'ladders' by burglars and burglaries are rife here," one Mingdemen manager was quoted as saying.
About 1 200 of the 2 000 units are rented out, so it can be difficult to determine who actually lives there and "some bad guys may sneak in", he said.
All the surveillance cameras were broken and the estate was facing an outstanding 60 000-yuan installation bill.
"Using butter is the most economical way," the manager said. - AFP