I have been living in my house 2 and a half years. There was a Veritas 8 alarm fitted but the previous owners advised it went off a lot so had disconnected it. Following a recent power cut and somebody turning on the mains switch next to the alarm it is now re-activated and went off. I am in possession of both the user and installation manuals but the keypad is non receptive to any of the codes I enter (e.g. attempting to re-load factory settings). I want to deactivate the alarm completely as it is old and possibly faulty - will removing the battery and turning off the mains do this (aside from the 15 mins of alarm) or is there another way?

The bell-box may have a cut-off timer , if not ,it could be ringing for some time (assuming it has SAB).Why not get it serviced and set-up correctly.

Thanks

To be honest though I just want to deactivate the thing. We have a 2 month old baby and a rogue alarm going off is the last thing I need. I just want reassurance that if I were to switch off the power and remove the battery that the outside box won't carry on going off beyond teh normal 15 mins.

Unless you have a ladder , there is no way of knowing how long it will require to flatten the battery in the bell box.