Blocking Driveway

ab7167

I live in a small village with very little parking, but I am lucky enough to have 2 off street spaces down the side of my end terrace house. I have a legal dropped kerb with the white H bar across it.

As we are close to the local primary school, there is a bit of a premium on parking spaces at certain times of the day and a few times now I have come home and found someone parked IN my drive. What would happen if I parked them in? I've complained to the school, I've left polite notes, not so polite notes and had polite words, but now I'm fed up. If they reverse far enough back I can also park in my drive, one in front of the other (this is how me and OH normally park), but if they are forward, can I park across my own drive legally?

If they were just a few minutes, even 20 minutes, I would probably grit my teeth and bear it, but one cheeky lass left her car there for 90 minutes cos her son apparently threw a tantrum at not being allowed to play on the swings (local playpark next to school). My children are 16 months and 3.5 years, so I do know about tantrums, but she made me feel like I was being unreasonable...

ab7167

Sorry, this isn't about me wanting revenge, but about me needing somewhere to park so I can go and collect DD from preschool. I come home from work, collect DS from childminder, sling the car in the drive and walk to school with him in the pushchair. I'm often in a rush and usually I don't go into the house at all, straight from car to preschool. If I have to find another space, it takes time, then I have to move my car later so I don't annoy the neighbours - there is a careful hierarchy of where we all park once everyone is home from work and it takes little to upset this!

NeverAgain_2

...Can I park across my own drive legally...

Effectively yes, because your car is only causing an obstruction if someone complains about it.

A problem you may find develop is people get used to seeing a car is there, don't know/don't care it belongs to the owner of the house, and assume it's OK to park.

Ravanelli

I have a feeling, but i could be wrong.

You can not block someone in your driveway, but you can block your driveway to stop anyone getting in.

White H bars in front of your drive are advisory only and not enforceable in anyway.

Kira000

My goodness, some people have such a cheek! We used to have the same problem with the small private primary school opposite, and people parking in our driveway. Not just rude but thoughtless, as it meant we couldnt get out of the garage to do the school run and were being made late. Eventually noticed the same person was doing it, even after having a polite word- she didnt " see what our problem was".. It only stopped after we closed the gates at the front of the drive with the car parked there, and padlocked them closed- and went out for an hour. The woman was fuming when we returned... apparently we were incredibly inconsiderate to have prevented her leaving and made her late. Surprisingly not alot of sympathy. She had even called the police and explained she was locked into someone elses driveway, and they apparently said private property, she shouldnt have been there, nothing they could/would do.
Never had the problem again.

Could you put one gates with or without auto open, on the front of the passage, to stop interlopers getting parked in?

Browntoa

I'd park across the end of your drive as its advisory........then wander out and move the car out of the way once I'd seen someone looking around outside the house for long enough

trisontana

Or one of those drop-down posts? They can be bought for about £30 .

ab7167

We do have gates already, we never use them so I hadn't thought of that! If I get OH to close them when he leaves for work, then I can park across the driveway while I open them, then reverse in. Always knew this was a useful forum :-)

If the H bar is advisory only, does this mean someone else can block my driveway if I'm not parked in it?

Browntoa

yes , its only an offence to block you in , not out

ab7167

Browntoa wrote: »

yes , its only an offence to block you in , not out

Hmmm, that's annoying. Half of these parents could walk as well, it's not a big village! I guess there is no cure for terminal selfishness...

Blobby8_2

I would not advise you to get a couple of feet of old floorboard and knock a few 2 inch nails through it and then discard it carelessly on YOUR property.