The door knob's turning

How far will people go to protect themselves in this increasingly anxious world? Jodie Foster's new movie, The Panic Room, demonstrates the latest security must-have for the worried rich: the indoor concrete bunker. Complete with steel doors, independent phone, surveillance and ventilation systems, these retreats are installed inside the home for use should intruders break in.

Panic rooms are big in the States. One Californian builder who built only about six such rooms a year a decade ago now installs around 60 annually.

So is the demand for panic rooms spreading to Britain? Yes, says former army officer Paddy Nicoll of security company Rubicon International Services. He's been installing panic rooms in UK homes for seven years, and in the past two years he has built 18 of them - a dozen in London, the rest mostly in the Home Counties. His clients are the super rich, often international businessmen or " highnetwork individuals", as he describes them.

The customers can pay up to £150,000 for the complete works: a 10ft by 10ft steel cube room (costing £15,000), a steel door and safety systems that include CCTV, gas detection equipment, an air supply, plus long-life food, water, and toys to distract the children. But, with an alarm system and some steel doors, anyone can turn their master bedroom into a panic room of sorts, spending as little as £1,200.

The aim in every case, says Nicoll, is to "create a physical barrier around yourself that intruders can't get through".

Of course, it all goes wrong for Ms Foster who spends most of the movie fighting off her resourceful attackers. Nicoll wonders why the police never show throughout the movie. In real life, he says, a panic room will work exactly like a burglar alarm. When an intruder breaks in, or the panic button is activated, a signal is sent to a monitoring centre and then to the local police station. "The idea is to give yourself time until the police arrive. But the film wouldn't have had a plot if the police had been informed."

Around 90 per cent of Nicoll's clients have two panic rooms, usually one in the master bedroom and another downstairs. They don't require planning permission but rich people often live in listed houses, so English Heritage may be involved and compromise necessary. Hugh Leslie of Chester Jones, an interior design company, has installed bullet-proof glass in Georgian fanlights and sandwiched steel doors between authentic-looking timber panelling. "It's like any modern technology, the clients stretch what can be achieved," he says.

In London's wealthiest areas, estate agents are no strangers to panic rooms. Grant Alexson of Knight Frank in Hampstead first encountered one 10 years ago: like most of London's panic rooms then and now, it was installed by an owner concerned about terrorism. Noel De Keyzer of estate agents FPDSavills, also in Hampstead, currently has two properties with panic rooms on his books. One, in a £2 million flat, was installed by " highprofile people from Israel". The other is in a £5 million house owned by Saudis.

The police doubt if panic rooms are really needed, even by potential terrorism victims. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "We'd like to think that level of security isn't normally necessary for a residential home in London. As for the film Panic Room, we can't understand why Jodie Foster didn't just call the police."

That, police stress, is what the public should do if they feel under threat, while anyone who needs advice about home security can get it free from their local crime prevention officer.