Single yellow line - resident v store manager

cheesemonster

Hi, advice sought please - I live above shops with a road with a single yellow line outside.

The restrictions are no parking from 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, so residents and shoppers park freely on the line on a Sunday.

There is minimal kerb and bits of the line pass the back yards of some of the shops.  These are just wide enough to fit a car and some of them use the yard as a parking space while others don’t; there are no additional markings outside these yards.

Last Sunday I received a phone call from the police asking me to move my car from the single yellow line as I’d been reported as blocking a shops’ fire escape.

I agreed and noticed (I had parked in the dark) I had inadvertently blocked vehicle access to a shop’s yard but I’d certainly had left enough room for people with wheelchairs and prams to evacuate if need be.

The shop manager made a point of telling me he needed constant access, I made a point of telling him his issue was with the council and the line and that I didn’t have to move but would do so as a courtesy.

He has now put up a sign saying ‘action will be taken’ if people park there.

It's clearly a bugbear to him - I believe he's put notices on cars parked there in the past - but the irony is if he's blocked from parking in his shops' yard on a Sunday he can legally park on the line himself.

While I believe it good manners not to intentionally park over the part of the line that backs onto the shop, am I wrong in thinking the police wouldn’t tow me away and the only problem I’d face is from traffic warden if I was still parked there on Monday morning?

Is the shop manager wasting police time reporting people seemingly parked legally, and if the police phone me again could I politely decline to move my car if it wasn’t convenient?

Thanks.

Umkomaas

We specialise in private parking tickets, not council/police parking related disputes. You'd be best served by posting over on PePiPoo where the relevant expertise lies. Please note that when registering the website doesn't like a hotmail address, so please use an alternative. 

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=30

Scrapit

police will almost certainly not tow you. Council might do though

Coupon-mad

The Police can always remove a car that is causing an obstruction - be careful.  Sounds like they were on his side and next time might not be so courteous as to phone you.  The Police did the right thing but yes, they can remove your car for obstruction.

You are OK to park on that line without causing an obstruction.

cheesemonster

 Coupon-mad said
You are OK to park on that line without causing an obstruction.

Thanks, if I have left enough room for a shop-full of customers to evacuate am I still causing an obstruction by parking over the part of the single yellow line that gives access to the shop yard for a vehicle?
It is not marked as an entrance with any white lines. 

theoretica

What is the entry to the yard like?  Dropped curb?  Gap in the pavement?

The highway code https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/parking.html says you should not park:

• where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles
• in front of an entrance to a property

KeithP

cheesemonster said:

Thanks, if I have left enough room for a shop-full of customers to evacuate am I still causing an obstruction by parking over the part of the single yellow line that gives access to the shop yard for a vehicle?
It is not marked as an entrance with any white lines. 

If the incident is reported to the police, they will make a decision at the time. That decision will be down to the officer's judgement. If the police decide that the vehicle needs to be removed, it will be removed.

You of course can argue about it afterwards - in court if necessary.

Coupon-mad

am I still causing an obstruction by parking over the part of the single yellow line that gives access to the shop yard for a vehicle? It is not marked as an entrance with any white lines. 

Yes you are causing an obstruction to the shopkeeper and a lack of white line makes no difference. 

I can see that the Police would be on his side because you are blocking his vehicular access and egress.

cheesemonster

theoretica said:

What is the entry to the yard like?  Dropped curb?  Gap in the pavement?

The highway code https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/parking.html says you should not park:

• where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles
• in front of an entrance to a property

Forgive the late reply theoretica, the entry and curb look like this: