We are Hunter Locksmiths, a mobile auto locksmith covering Woodford, from South Woodford and Woodford Green up to Woodford Bridge and the roundabout at Charlie Browns.
Cars and vans are the main job rather than a sideline to house locks. Lost car keys, immobiliser and keyless faults, ignition problems and vehicles that will not open are what our vans carry the kit for, seven days a week and at any hour.
Commuters, Driveways and the Forest
Woodford is a commuter area first and foremost. The Central line stations at South Woodford and Woodford fill before eight and empty after six, so cars sit untouched for ten or eleven hours at a stretch. A fob that was weak in the morning is often dead by the evening, and people come back in the dark to a car that will not respond to anything.
Unlike most of East London, a lot of Woodford has driveways and garages, and the cars on them are newer. That changes the work. Keyless entry and proximity keys fail differently from older transponders: the car says the key is not detected, refuses to unlock, or turns over without starting. That is usually a programming or immobiliser fault rather than a flat battery, and it needs diagnosing properly before anything gets replaced.
Then there is Epping Forest, which runs right along the edge of Woodford Green. Keys get lost on walks and at the forest car parks, and there is rarely any realistic chance of finding them again. That is not a problem, because we do not need the original key to make and program a new one.
Woodford is part of our wider East London coverage, and it sits on the edge of our Essex patch too, so Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell and Loughton are all on the same run.