Private Company Removed My Car, and Dumped it in Nearby Street With No Warning!

debtslave2024

I came from work, home earlier this morning to see workmen in an electric substation doing some work - my car was near the substation gates in its parking space, but they had full access, and were doing their work with a digger just fine. I was parked in the parking spaces specifically built for my property, years before they installed the gates.

Anyway, after sleeping for a few hours due to working very early, I left my property in the afternoon to find that my car had vanished! I panicked at first, as most people would.

The private construction maintenance company had removed my car somehow, and dumped it in a nearby street. I was not at any point told to move my car, plus they had managed to gain access anyway! They now have a large ring of traffic cones beside the sub-station, marking an exclusion zone.

I live in Scotland, and would like to ask:

1) Is what they did even legal? I never saw any signs up, or letters through the door, plus they had managed to gain access anyhow.

2) How did they move my immobile vehicle, and could the process have damaged the car?

3) A friend suggest that they could try and charge me for moving the car? Surely not, I was in the parking space for my own building. Anyway if they did, I would not pay them.

Thanks in advance.

user1977

Are you sure your parking space is private land? It's legal and commonplace to do this on public roads (and the cars are lifted by the same trucks the council uses to take illegally-parked ones to the pound - this sort of thing) - has happened to me once or twice. 

debtslave2024

The car was not on private land, however it was in parking spaces specifically built for our properties around 20 years ago. Then about 10 years ago, they had the genius idea of building a gate to the substation - blocked by our parking spaces.

user1977

debtslave2024 said:

The car was not on private land

So legal and commonplace then. Some door-knocking to find easier solutions is normal, but has happened in my street with no advance warning.

debtslave2024

@user1977 Can they make an attempt to charge me for it? 

Nobbie1967

I suspect the utility companies have been granted certain powers to access their equipment and may move vehicles that block access. I doubt they are allowed to charge though.

user1977

debtslave2024 said:

@user1977 Can they make an attempt to charge me for it? 

No, nobody's going to charge you.

Goudy

Utility companies have statutory rights of access onto private land.
I presume if they consider that access blocked they would have legal rights to remove that blockage.

You would have thought they might have put notices up, they often do, but if it was emergency work they may not have had time.