to find this really fucking annoying even though it doesn't really affect me much

🤣

Have you talked to them about it since they moved in a year ago and told them they havent got right of access over your drive and to stop using it, or just seethed?

Thanks that’s what I thought and explains a lot, hence the annoyance.

I wouldn’t find it that annoying tbh it’s not like she can park in that part of the driveway. I often walk on my neighbours to water the plants or put their bins out but we have a good relationship.

Fence exactly where the property line is according to the deeds. You will need a locked gate allowing you access from your drive to the gangway.

They need to open a gate to their front garden at the path so they can get through their garden to the gangway from their current gate.

While you're getting pp for the fence (if it's needed) park your cars as far over to the left as you possible can. Pull the left hand car as far up the drive as possible, and the right hand car can squeeze in beside it but not as far up toward the house, so it won't block your driver side door from opening.

How about parking your car as close to the fence as you possibly can?

Though in your shoes, I'd gate the section that leads to the gangway, either diagonally or using an L shaped fence, with a keypad lock. Or could you get a gate for the opening to your drive where it joins the street or footpath?

It’s certainly a strange layout but the situation would annoy me too especially if I was sitting in my living room and seeing them busying about. I would be tempted to park so close to their fence that there wasn’t any room for them to walk/manouver, giving them no choice but to use their own front gate. It might be enough to give them the hint or you could just have a quiet word with them as they could have forgotten about the boundary rights.

@walkway8

Did the previous neighbour do this OP?

@ApplesOrangesBananas

The hatched orange is the shared pathway, the green is OPs driveway and the purple is the neighbour's garden.
The blue line and red is my suggestion of a new fence and gate position.

Do you neighbours realise they don't have access straight down to the street? They might not have properly looked at the deeds and just presumed the shared walkway continues. A friendly chat might be a good starting point. However I think a gate at the top of your driveway boundary is probably a good idea longer term as it is clearly much easier to walk straight down your driveway rather than navigate through a gate with their wheelie bin.

It would annoy me too but I wouldn't do anything about it because that would seem really petty.

@ApplesOrangesBananas
My version of OPs diagram

Why not just politely tell them you're worried about your cars and would they mind using their own garden?

If I’ve understood correctly you walking through their garden would be completely different; you would be going out of your way to walk on their patch, through a gate! Whereas they are getting to their back garden the most logical way, without having to open and close two gates on the way! It reminds me of people who walk through other people’s ’patches’ on the beach to avoid going the long way round!
i guess they are probably doing it in an automatic and unthinking way using the path that becomes theirs when it reaches the side of their house.
You are within your rights to establish your boundaries in a clear way, however I think it will put their nose out of joint and I would guess you will notice them being more boundaried around other things - maybe even things that you haven’t noticed they are chilled about until now! So proceed with caution

@Grammarnut I'm perfectly aware that my neighbours parking outside my house is legal. I'm also perfectly aware that I don't own the space outside my house.
I have a tight turn to get into my driveway so it's an additional inconvenience for me to pull right across the road to get in when they're outside my house.
Will I say anything to them? No
Does it piss me off? Yes
As I said in my post, I'm aware that I'm an outlier on MN for this view.
Lots of things that I'm not in the right about, also piss me off.

YANBU (and for what it's worth it was completely clear from first post plus diagram!).

What I'd do is:

(1) Make sure that you are 100% right. I know you've checked your own deeds. If you haven't already pay the minimal cost and download your neighbours' deeds as well. Before you start anything (including planters/gates), make sure that there isn't a mess with a difference between your and their deeds. Unlikely but it's something like £3 to get a copy and check!
(2) If you haven't already speak to them. They may not know. If you have to, make some excuse (a dog you can claim keeps barking would be useful here) or just be open and say that you'd prefer they didn't.
(3) If that doesn't work (either they refuse to stop or they stop for a bit and start again), planters as an immediate end cheapish option (or wheelie bins!) and then a gate.

Good luck!

Can you not just open your window next time they're doing it and shout "Hi neighbour, are you enjoying the nice weather? Would you mind not using my drive, I'm worried the cars will get scratched - thanks very much!" Maybe they think for some reason they have right of access over your drive? If you put a gate in there you'll be forever annoyed at having to park your car further over to avoid the sticking out bit.

Wait until they bring something big through your drive and tell them they've damaged your car .

I actually looked at the diagram and thought eee god I hope this isn’t about me🤣🤣

Our house is the exact same layout as yours. I think it would annoy me to be fair even though they’re not really doing any harm. We have only lived here 3 weeks but so far I’ve not even seen our neighbours in the shared walkway. I would just let it go though to keep the peace unless they were doing any work that left mess on your drive/

Before putting gates up, how about a friendly conversation where you show them the deeds and say something to the effect that you're sure they didn't realise that your driveway wasn't shared, but now that they know pretty please could they stop using it.

It's people who haven't read the full thread, an absolute must to understand the situation!

Definitely get a gate or put something in the way like a heavy potted plant.

I think all three were pretty close before our lady put her house on the market.

We get along fairly well otherwise so I don't wanna rock the boat but sometimes I want to go out and tell them to do one.

Not really there is not cut off to the walkway…