Chris Stevens wished he had taken five minutes out of his day to register his new laptop on national property database Immobilise.

His laptop was stolen just one week after he'd bought it when the shared house he lives in was burgled.

Chris, aged 21, who lives in the burglary hotspot Montpelier had got the laptop as a graduation reward to himself.

His insurance had lapsed the previous year and his property was not security marked or registered on the national property database Immobilise.

The burglar also stole five other laptops belonging to Chris's housemates and two Ipods.

Chris said: "I was really angry at myself for letting my insurance lapse.

"I had only had the laptop for a week so I hadn't had the chance to register it or mark it in any way.

"We didn't have any alarms fitted in our house. In a rented property with a house full of students or single professionals coming and going it's not something anyone really thought too hard about.

"It was really weird coming back and realising someone had been in my house and in my room.

"We have lived in this house for two years.

"When I think about it now the door at the back of the house was pretty insecure and could be easily kicked in. Although there is a double lock on the front door, it wasn't working the day we got burgled.

"It happened on the day of St Paul's Carnival and we all left the house together as one big group to go to the event.

"It may not have been the most sensible idea to all leave at once, as anyone watching the house would obviously know the it was empty.

"I would recommend that people take all the precautions that they can like proper locks, alarms, registering your property and marking all your belongings in some way.

"It won't necessarily stop you from being burgled – I suppose if someone is really determined to get in they will find a way. But at least you know you would have done everything possible. And if you're property is recovered by police they can use the registered details or marks to identify you and return it."

Others can learn a lesson from it and register their property on www.immobilise.com as soon as they get it. It only takes a couple of minutes and means property can be returned to you if traced by the police.

Daniel Davies, 21, is Chris's housemate and had an IPO taken in the burglary.

Daniel said: "I wasn't too badly hit and I don't have insurance because I don't have anything of much value to take.

"I think for me I'd be more concerned about the convenience aspect.

"I've got a really old PC and the burglars didn't bother with that but if they had there are numbers and info stored on there that I wouldn't be able to get back. It made me think a bit.

"If you had a laptop with containing coursework or personal photos, then it would be a nightmare to have it stolen.

"I would definitely think about backing everything up and registering it so that if it was found, then it could be returned."