Broken Key Extraction
A snapped key lodged inside a lock is one of those situations that can bring your day to an abrupt halt — whether you are standing outside your flat on Coldharbour Lane at midnight or trying to get back into your house off Camberwell Church Street after a long shift. The break usually happens without warning: metal fatigue, a stiff lock, or simply a key that was already worn down finally gives way, leaving half of it buried inside the barrel where fingers and improvised tools cannot reach it. At Camberwell Locksmith we deal with this exact problem every day, and our mobile technicians are trained to handle it without causing unnecessary damage to your lock or door.
Open 24 hours, 7 days a week · Fully insured
What matters most in those first few minutes is resisting the urge to force anything further into the keyway. Pushing or jamming can drive the broken piece deeper, compress it against the lock pins, and turn a straightforward job into a far more involved one. The right call is to leave the lock exactly as it is and contact a professional straight away. Our team operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week — including evenings, weekends and bank holidays — and we come directly to your address anywhere in the Camberwell area, so you are never left waiting at the door longer than necessary.
What we do
Available 24/7
Day, night, weekends and bank holidays — a real local locksmith answers and sends a fully-stocked van.
We come straight away
Based in Camberwell, we send a locksmith straight away — we're usually with you in about 30 minutes.
Fully insured
Vetted locksmiths, a clear price on the phone, and no surprise add-ons when we arrive.
Damage-free entry
We pick and bypass locks the right way, so most lockouts are solved without drilling anything.
Frequently asked questions
Can you remove a broken key without replacing the lock?
In many cases, yes. Where the broken fragment has not been driven deep into the mechanism and the lock itself has not been damaged in the process, our technicians can extract the piece cleanly and leave the lock in working order. The outcome depends on the lock type, the position of the fragment, and the condition of the lock before the key snapped. We assess this on arrival and explain clearly what is achievable before beginning any work.
What should I do while I wait for the locksmith to arrive?
The most important thing is to avoid pushing anything further into the keyway — a pen, a hairpin, a screwdriver tip — as this almost always makes the extraction more difficult and risks damaging the lock internally. Leave the door and lock exactly as they are. If you are locked outside, check whether there is another entrance you have access to, or whether a family member or trusted neighbour holds a spare key. Beyond that, stay somewhere safe and warm and wait for our technician. We are usually with customers in around 30 minutes of the call, though exact arrival times depend on traffic and distance.
How much does broken key extraction cost?
We do not publish a standard figure because the final quote depends on the type of lock involved, whether any parts such as a replacement cylinder need to be fitted, the time of day or night, and travel distance to your address. What we always do is give you a clear, confirmed price on the phone before any technician travels out, so you are never faced with a surprise total at the end. Call 020 3757 5826 and we will talk through exactly what is involved and confirm your quote upfront.
My key snapped in a euro cylinder on a uPVC door — is the cylinder likely to need replacing?
Not necessarily, though it depends on the condition of the cylinder before the break. If the cylinder is old, corroded, or was already difficult to operate, extraction can sometimes cause additional wear that makes replacement the more reliable option. It is also worth knowing that standard euro cylinders carry a well-documented vulnerability to deliberate snapping as a method of forced entry. If your cylinder is not already an anti-snap, TS007 3-star rated model, replacing it at the same visit is something many of our customers choose to do — it removes the extraction problem and closes a genuine security gap in one visit.
Do you operate in Camberwell late at night or at weekends?
Yes, entirely. Our service runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including late nights, early mornings, weekends and bank holidays. A broken key does not wait for a convenient moment, and neither do we. Whether you are locked out at 2am near Camberwell Green or dealing with a snapped key on a Sunday afternoon, you can call 020 3757 5826 and reach a real person who will dispatch a technician to you.
Is the technician who attends insured to carry out this work?
Yes. All of our technicians are fully insured, trained, and experienced across the full range of residential lock types found in Camberwell and the wider London area — from Victorian mortice deadlocks to modern euro cylinders on uPVC and composite doors. You will not be dealing with an untrained operative or someone unfamiliar with the type of lock at your property.