Safebusters & John Tann Safe

Safebusters were called out to an elegant, vintage John Tann safe. The owner had the keys—but frustratingly, the door refused to budge.

First, we drilled a small 6 mm probe hole and slid in an endoscope to check the boltwork. Everything looked to be retracting correctly on the inside. We tried pulling the door repeatedly—shoulder to the steel—but still nothing. Cue plenty of puzzled glances, shoulder shrugs, and head-scratching.

Then I caught sight of a forklift passing by—this was at a builders’ merchant, after all. With a bit of friendly persuasion, we got the forklift driver to apply a gentle tug. It took a monumental push, but finally—click!—the door sprang open, much to my immense relief.

Inside, we discovered the culprit: the door had sagged by about 2 mm, and a tiny scrap of paper—no larger than a postage stamp—had jammed the bottom, blocking the boltwork.

As they say, every day’s a school day!