Private Road Access Rights

Bazza5070_2

Hi, advice needed please..... I regularly take a short cut down a road that has a home made sign which reads 'private road - no access, residents only'. Recently one of the residents has taken to parking his car across the road to block access. I have looked on the Ordnance Survey map and the road is marked as a public right of way. Does he have the right to stop me from driving my car through this road. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this cuts 15 minutes off of my daily journey.

ukjoel

Stick a nice sticky notice on the window that the vehicle has been reported to the Emergency Services as blocking a right of way that may be needed by emergency services 24/7.

Keep sticking stickier and sticker notices on until he gets fed up. And yes it will be a He.

Kurtis_Blue

Its a private road.

You will need to do some proper research as to what rights you have to use a motor vehicle on this "public right of way".

kalaika

If it's private land and he is the owner, he may not be doing anything wrong, but it depends on the type of rights given to the path.

A little google of public rights of way lead me to this:
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/enjoying/places/rightsofway/default.aspx
"All rights of way are legally highways and anyone may use them at any time. However, there are different types. You can walk on all of them, but some have extra rights to ride a horse, cycle or drive a vehicle."

So depending on what type of RoW it is, you are allowed to walk down it but may not have an automatic right to drive your car down it.

epninety

The Ordnance Survey map is not definitive in any case. Your county council will maintain something called the 'Definitive Map' which will define the exact RoW status for the road in question. Some councils publicise this information online, but most do not, and your only option may be to visit County Hall and look at the map yourself.

Can you give the grid reference for each end of the lane in question?

terryya

There was a 'private' road near us where the residents asked the council to help pay for it to be resurfaced, which they did. The residents then put a gate at each end and were surprised and angry when the council ordered them to take them down!

DirectDebacle

It may or may not be private. As has been suggested the OP needs to investigate and be sure of his rights.

I suspect the problem is that the residents are fed up with their road being used as a 'rat-run' and are trying a little direct action in order to peacefully enjoy their property.

The O.P. is only interested in saving his journey time and not interested in how that impacts on other peoples lives. Quite probably there are many other drivers using this short-cut, not just the O.P.

Where two parties feel they have equal but opposing rights and disputes occur is where situations like this can quickly get out of hand.

I take the point of restricting access for emergency vehicles but would not recommend sticking notices on windscreens or taking any other retaliatory action. It will only lead to escalating conflict.

Find out what the situation is and proceed from there.

Bazza5070_2

Thanks for the advice, I will re-consult the OS Map and call the Local council.....

hartcjhart

By putting anything on the persosns vehicle you could open yourself to prosecution for criminal damage,as has been said contac the local councils highways dept

spiro

Years ago the rules meant every private road had to be closed for 24hrs every so many years to retain rpivate status. This entailed put an ad in the local paper, signs at the access point(s) to the road any only allowing access to residents, this includes excluding delivery men, dust men etc.

pendulum

DirectDebacle wrote: »

The O.P. is only interested in saving his journey time and not interested in how that impacts on other peoples lives.

And neither should he! If the road is public then OP is entitled to drive down that road, and if the residents don't like it then tough. It's in the same league as the !!!!!! act of placing road cones on the public highway outside your house to reserve a space. These people need to know that they cannot get away with it.