Mortice Lock blocked - burglar??

[Jen1234]

Hi,

If somebody has any advice regarding this I would be most grateful as I am very puzzled at the moment!

I have a yale and a mortice lock on my front door which is a wooden front door (not sure of the exact type of mortice), it was around 10pm.

My partner was out in the evening (works xmas do)! I heard banging on the door at 3.30am it was him, he couldnt get his key IN the door from the outside and I couldnt get my key in the door from the inside!!?? This lead to quite a stressful shouting match on eitherside of the door by both me and my partner as I couldnt let him in and he couldnt get it! Anyway we live in a row of three terrace and he had to go right around the back through the 3 back gates of our neighbours gardens and try to get in through our iron gate which has a padlock on.

I tried the key to this and its a straight stick type lock, Octogan shape its very thin, I tried to fit it in and once again it wouldnt go in the lock, I got my partner to shine his phone light on it and the shape just wasnt the same as the key it looked like it had been messed with maybe?

Anyway he had to climb over the fence so he got in!

But we cant get out now!

We rent the house so ill call the landlady in the morning and maybe the police?

Do you think our front door lock has been messed with or its just dropped?

If you look through the key hole you can see a round section at the top and a little bit of a see through section at the bottom but right across the middle section its like its been turned and part of the metal is in the way, if that makes sense!!

Any advice, help would be appreciated!

xx

 

[Jen1234]

I think it might be a curtain lock doing some research?

 

[DC77]

Common fault: lock curtain needs to be reset.
Put something with a narrow blade such as a small knife in the round area at the top of the key hole so that you can turn the curtain without hitting the side of the key hole.
Turn left or right until you feel a click. Withdraw the blade and you should be able to see all the way through the key hole. If not try again.
Insert key, open door.
DC
Teamlocksmiths.

 

[SaladFingers]

I remember this happening a long time ago to my mums lock. A part of the barrel would turn with any vibration etc, so would often need a knife or a good fiddle with the key to get in.