How we chose
We started from the eighteen locksmiths Google Maps shows across Telford. Claimed memberships were checked against the Master Locksmiths Association listings, each firm's own website and trade platforms [1] [2]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and any claimed registration checks out. Eleven firms met all three. We looked first at what customers say, then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the locksmith to the job. A lockout needs someone genuinely local who can reach you quickly; a planned upgrade, such as anti-snap cylinders across the house or a new multipoint gearbox on a stiff uPVC door, suits a diary appointment where parts are ordered in advance. Lost car keys need an auto locksmith with cutting and programming kit in the van, while burglary repairs, safe work and commercial shutters each need their own experience, so describe the door, the lock and the urgency when you call. If anyone is locked inside, a child or a vulnerable person, say so first and call 999 if there is immediate danger.
Telford's housing mix shapes the job. Around Madeley, the former new-town estates at Sutton Hill and Woodside were built with timber-framed systems, while later semis and closes fill the gaps between the older centres, so the door furniture varies street by street [14]. Parts of Wellington and the Severn Gorge sit in conservation areas, and Gorge homes fall under an Article 4 direction that removes some permitted development rights, so replacement doors and frames there can need consent where elsewhere they would not [10] [11]. If your home is listed, works affecting its character need listed building consent applied for separately, and the council runs free Gorge planning surgeries for householders weighing such work [12] [11]. Mention the property type and street on the first call, so the locksmith brings compatible stock.
Locksmithing has no government licence, so anyone can trade under the name regardless of background or competence, which is exactly why identity checks matter [2]. Check claimed membership on the Master Locksmiths Association's own find-a-locksmith listings rather than trusting a badge on a website, and ask for the licence number behind the claim [1] [2]. Check the business's full name and address, and look limited companies up on Companies House for active status and a matching trading name [6]. Ask whether the person attending has a criminal-record check, look for public liability insurance in writing, and prefer firms that quote an arrival window and a price structure before dispatch.
Agree the money before anyone travels. A proper quote states the attendance or call-out fee, the labour rate, likely parts with their lock standards, and VAT, plus what changes the price after hours [4] [5]. Ask whether gaining entry will be non-destructive: a skilled locksmith picks or bypasses standard cylinders and drills only as a last resort, explaining why first [2]. Ask what happens if the door cannot be opened or parts are missing from the van: is there a temporary securing, a return visit, and what does each cost. Get the attendance figure confirmed by text before they set off.
Check the hardware going into your door. For uPVC and composite doors ask for anti-snap cylinders rated to TS 007: a three-star cylinder stands alone, while a one-star cylinder needs two-star security handles alongside it, and a basic one-star cylinder on its own has passed no snapping test [3]. For timber doors ask for five-lever mortice locks meeting BS 3621, which many home insurers require. Products carrying Secured by Design accreditation have passed police-preferred testing, a useful extra signal rather than a substitute for the lock standard itself [9]. Look for the star marks or Kitemark on the box before the old lock comes out.
For car keys, expect the vehicle to be present and expect to prove it is yours: photo ID and the logbook, or an insurance document showing you as the keeper. Ask whether the firm cuts and programs your make and model at the roadside or needs the car recovered to a workshop, what happens if the programming fails, and whether the price covers one key or two. A second key cut in the same visit usually costs far less than a second call-out later, so ask for that price while you have them.
Finish with paperwork. Pay by card where you can and keep the itemised receipt showing each part fitted and the standard it meets, which your insurer may ask to see [5]. Test every key, handle and gearbox yourself before the locksmith leaves, and get the guarantee terms in writing: what is covered, for how long, and who to call if the new lock sticks. File the receipt with your house papers and photograph the key numbers where they are stamped [7].
A typical job runs the same way whatever the firm. You describe the door, the lock and the urgency, agree an arrival window, and get the full price stated separately as attendance, labour, named parts and VAT position, confirmed by text before anyone sets off. On the doorstep you show ID, the locksmith tries non-destructive entry first and explains before any drilling, then fits the agreed hardware with its standard marks visible on the box. You test every key and handle yourself, pay by card, and leave with an itemised receipt, the guarantee terms in writing, and the key numbers photographed for your house papers [5] [7].
Pricing
As of spring 2026, rough Telford guides run like this. Changing a standard lock on a uPVC door commonly falls between £100 and £150; an anti-snap upgrade lands between £125 and £175; a mortice lock replacement between £115 and £165; and a Yale-type lock on a timber door between £90 and £120 [4]. These figures include labour and materials during normal working hours, and Telford usually sits below London and South East prices [4].
Emergencies cost more. Regaining entry to a property is commonly quoted between £90 and £130, and removing a broken key without replacing the cylinder between £80 and £100, both excluding VAT [5]. Out-of-hours call-out fees typically add £50 to £150 on top, with emergency hourly rates running £80 to £200, so a midnight lockout can easily double the daytime figure [4].
Timing moves the price most then, parts second: high-security cylinders, obsolete gearboxes and smart locks all cost more than standard van stock, and travel and parking around your street add smaller uplifts [4]. Check whether the firm is VAT-registered, because the standard rate of 20% goes on top of a quoted figure that excludes it [8]. Firms in this round mostly state call-out terms and free quotes but publish almost no example rates, so treat the phone quote as the price, not the website.
Get the scope in writing before work starts: the attendance fee, labour, named parts with their standards, VAT, and what changes the price after hours [4] [7]. Agree what happens if parts must be ordered, including any return fee, and keep every quote, invoice and certificate together. Treat any quote that cannot say what the job costs in full as incomplete [7].
Car keys are a quote-only trade. None of the auto specialists in this round publishes example rates: one promises a fixed-price quotation by phone or form before work starts, while the rest leave everything to the call. What moves the figure is the key itself, since a fob or proximity key needs programming that a basic blade does not, whether the car must be present at the roadside, and whether the price covers one key or two.
Burglary repairs, safe work and access control resist fixed guides because the scope only emerges on site: temporary securing first, then like-for-like or upgraded replacements, sometimes across several doors and windows. Firms here offer free quotes or assessments rather than price lists, so the written scope matters more than any guide figure: which openings, which lock standards, and whether a return visit is priced in. Treat a blurry scope as the price risk, not the headline rate [7].
Red flags
Quotes only a low attendance fee and will not state labour, parts and VAT, or says the price can only be decided on the doorstep.
Reaches for the drill on a standard cylinder without attempting non-destructive entry first or explaining why drilling is needed [2].
Gives no firm name, no Telford base and no arrival window, or the person who arrives answers to a different business name.
Fits unbranded cylinders with no TS 007 stars or mortice locks with no BS 3621 mark, and leaves no itemised receipt [3].
Demands cash only, refuses a receipt, or adds an after-hours uplift to a job booked and priced as daytime work.
Advertises a starting price that covers attendance alone, with labour and parts added on top once the lock is already open [4].
Cannot name the standard the replacement lock meets, or brushes the question aside when you ask what is going into your door [3].
Starts work before agreeing the total price, then presents the bill only once the door is already open.
Insists on cash or instant transfer on the doorstep and cannot produce a card reader or an itemised receipt.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.