Nuisance neighbour parking commercial vehicles

MadHatter752

I have a problem with my neighbor parking two commercial vehicles (plus four other vehicles) on the path opposite our house and wonder if anyone can give me any advice about what I can do so that I don't spend hours on the phone in a wild goose chase (have already phoned the council, been put on hold, been transferred, been put on hold and then given up as the call wasn't answered).

Firstly, they are not the kind of people I would approach to speak to about it.

So, there are no parking restrictions on our road, there is an area of trees and grass which separates my house from the houses across the road and this area has a footpath. They are parking their six vehicles the whole the way along the footpath, obstructing the footpath and also making it difficult for me to reverse out of my drive at times. Their vehicles have also leaked oil all over the path.

The Titles with the HM Land Registry for our house states we are "Not to park any heavy goods vehicle commercial vehicle caravan boat trailer or other similar type of vehicle on any part of the property... or on any part of the Estate including the Estate Roads". They are parking two commercial vehicles on this land, one a pickup truck, which often has another car on the back, and a mini bus.... currently sitting right outside my kitchen window.

I phoned the Council and they said that as there are no restrictions on the road then I would need to speak to the neighbourhood Police. Then I mentioned about the Title Deed and they put me through to the Buildings Department but no one picked up.

Does anyone know who I should be contacting about this and if I am going to be able to do anything about it?

What started out as three vehicles a year ago when they moved in has grown to six, I can't understand why you would think it was ok and neighbourly to park all these cars on a small Estate but there we go. It makes me so angry I want to move house but we can't at the moment so would rather try and do something about it!

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Kind regards
MadHatter752

[Deleted User]

Recently at the end of my street there are cars parking at both sides right up to the junction. You can't see what's coming both directions when you are trying to leave the street and they park opposite too turning the road into a single lane. It's been gradually getting worse over the years but now it's at the worst it can get.

bigjl

Phone the Building Department back.

AdrianC

So there's a covenant against parking commercial vehicles on the roads in the estate. Who has the benefit of that covenant? The original developer?

You need to talk to them. If they're not interested in enforcing it (which they almost certainly won't be, assuming they aren't still trying to sell newbuild plots there), then you're out of luck.

I presume these commercial vehicles are .5t vans? If they're bigger than that, then the operator is in breach of the law by not having an operator's licence, which would require them to be stored off-road in a properly licenced yard. Apart from that, the only offence that might be being committed is obstruction of the road or the pavement. But you've said the police are unwilling to look into that.

Strider590

My street us fast turning into a car park for vans and pickups, fortunately there is no road in front of my house, just a quiet footpath. I do feel sorry for those who have to look out onto the road and the worst thing is the people who drive these things won't park them in front of their own properties.

Sod thy neighbour

AdrianC

Let's not forget that everybody with a road-legal vehicle is perfectly entitled to park it anywhere, so long as no obstruction is caused, and no parking restrictions are breached.

bigjl

AdrianC wrote: »

Let's not forget that everybody with a road-legal vehicle is perfectly entitled to park it anywhere, so long as no obstruction is caused, and no parking restrictions are breached.

Depends if the deeds of the House have specific "covenants", I think that is the correct term.

Breaching those can have significant consequences, not sure what they could be.


Edit

Ignore me the subject of Covenants has been dealt with

Iceweasel

Exactly how big are these commercial vehicles?

If over 3.5 tonnes gross then they may need an Operators Licence.

There are lots of exemptions though.

If they need an Operators Licence then there has to be an Operating Centre.

You cannot park goods vehicles in the street on a regular basis.

Complain to the DVSA if you think they need an Operators Licence.

You say they are 'parked on the path' - that's not allowed either - so complain to the police about that.

patman99

Strangely, it is not an offence to park a vehicle on the path. The offence is the driving of the vehicle on the footway.

Anyway, I can sympathise with the op. I live on a busy main road and it is within 10 minutes walk of a mainline train station.
Since the operators of the station carpark increased their prices, the amount of cars and vans now parking along the roadside hs increased to the point where it is dangerous to leave my little estate in the mornings.

MadHatter752

Thanks for your comments. The pickup would be over 3.5 tonnes when it has a car on top of it which it often does.

I think I confused you about the police, I haven't phoned them yet, the council told me to contact them and then decided it was building/planning I needed.

Bellway built the homes and they aren't developing on the Estate anymore so looks like that might be a dead end.

Interesting about it not being an offence to park on the footpath... If they are completely blocking it though I assume that is an offence, which they are. I have seen mothers with pushchairs have to use the road as they block the path.

AdrianC

MadHatter752 wrote: »

The pickup would be over 3.5 tonnes when it has a car on top of it which it often does.

Are you sure about that? If it's a Transit-size vehicle, then it's VERY unlikely that it's 3.5t+. The relevant weight is the max legal laden weight.