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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Its a parking one

58 replies

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 17:22

I live on a street with victorian terraced houses. It's not a main road and is very narrow, so parking is often a nightmare. There is no other parking nearby (we're off a main road with double yellow lines)

My neighbour (next door but one) has started parking one car on their paved front garden. It has no lowered kerb, no white line, nothing official saying nobody can park in front of it.

I came home earlier - with toddler and shopping - and there was no other parking space that would fit my car. So I parked outside their house blocking their car in.

They just came and asked me to move it so they can get the car out - which is fair enough and exactly what i expected. So I went straight out to move the car (with the toddler).

I pulled my car backwards so they could get out, then pulled forward into the same space to park there again. The neighbour pulled up next to me and said I'd have to move it again when he comes back so that he can park there again and basically told me to park somewhere else.

I said no. Im happy to move it if they need to get out but im not leaving a perfectly legal parking space (and then driving round the local area trying to find another one, in the rain with a toddler) when its not an official driveway and Im not moving it again so they can park there again.

Neighbour was really not happy and I half expect him to come and demand i move it when he gets back. AIBU?

OP posts:
suburburban · 06/06/2026 22:15

Nearly50omg · 06/06/2026 21:34

Also if you are parked overhanging the pavement then you ARE illegally parked

Yes it sounds very dodgy I think neighbour’s car should be clamped and taken away

poor OP

Nearly50omg · 06/06/2026 21:34

suburburban · 06/06/2026 19:41

Yes you knew what I meant, you cannot drive over a kerb

Also if you are parked overhanging the pavement then you ARE illegally parked

grumpygrape · 06/06/2026 21:34

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 21:13

I've logged it with the police.

They said:
a) its not an official driveway without a lowered kerb
b) even if it was an official driveway he has no right to stop people parking in front of it or ask them to move to let him on it
c) if it was an official driveway he would have the right to get me to move to get his car off it, but it isn't so he doesn't
d)if he can manouver his car on round my car, he can get it off round my car
e) he's the one breaking the law by crossing the pavement with his car.

They asked me if I wanted to take it further and I said I didn't- there have been no major issues for the last 5 years I've lived here. They said that's fine, but if he comes back to phone 999. They said if that if I wanted to move my car tomorrow morning to let him get his off more easily that's at my discretion but I'm under no obligation.

They also said they were passing it onto their neighbourhood team as they dont want this turning into an issue for other people. They said the neighbourhood team will probably have a drive past in the next few days and if they see his car there, they will go and advise him that he has not to drive across the pavement and that if he can get his car into that position by some other means, he has no right to tell anyone they need to move to let him get it off or on - if he wants it there but someone else's parking is stopping it, that's his tough luck.

Good result so far. Lets hope the drive by results in him being give advice 😉

Londonrach1 · 06/06/2026 21:30

Awful. Hope you ok. So glad you reported this abuse to the police

JustMerelyHere · 06/06/2026 21:25

Edit: just seen you already did, sorry

superspideysense · 06/06/2026 21:24

How awful!!! No wonder you’re shaking.

well done for logging with the police. Just don’t answer the door again to him and call 999 if he becomes abusive.

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 21:13

I've logged it with the police.

They said:
a) its not an official driveway without a lowered kerb
b) even if it was an official driveway he has no right to stop people parking in front of it or ask them to move to let him on it
c) if it was an official driveway he would have the right to get me to move to get his car off it, but it isn't so he doesn't
d)if he can manouver his car on round my car, he can get it off round my car
e) he's the one breaking the law by crossing the pavement with his car.

They asked me if I wanted to take it further and I said I didn't- there have been no major issues for the last 5 years I've lived here. They said that's fine, but if he comes back to phone 999. They said if that if I wanted to move my car tomorrow morning to let him get his off more easily that's at my discretion but I'm under no obligation.

They also said they were passing it onto their neighbourhood team as they dont want this turning into an issue for other people. They said the neighbourhood team will probably have a drive past in the next few days and if they see his car there, they will go and advise him that he has not to drive across the pavement and that if he can get his car into that position by some other means, he has no right to tell anyone they need to move to let him get it off or on - if he wants it there but someone else's parking is stopping it, that's his tough luck.

OP posts:
19lottie82 · 06/06/2026 21:11

100%, call the police.

Namechangetheyarewatching · 06/06/2026 21:06

I would ring the police as he has threatened to damage your car.

FridayOnMyMind · 06/06/2026 20:57

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 18:17

The length of his car is shorter than the width of his garden, so this would be better - and is what he was doing until a few weeks ago!

If the space is big enough for both you and he to park in then surely it’s big enough for you to park in but him to still fit out.

His car can’t be wider than it’s long, can it?

I think a diagram might help….

Walkingnice · 06/06/2026 20:47

Log it with the police. Take a photo of his car and report him to the council.

concertinacornflake · 06/06/2026 20:41

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 20:25

UPDATE

I'm shaking.

He came back about 15 minutes ago. Im already in bed as I'm not feeling well and toddler was asleep. He absolutely hammered on my door until I went down.

By the time I got downstairs he was sat in the car in the road outside my house. When I opened my front door he screamed at me from the car that I need to move my car so he can access his "drive". (Its not a drive).

I said no I wasn't moving the car and I was going back in as I had a toddler in the house. He carried on screaming at me to move the car and then said "if youre not going to move it, its not my responsibility if anything happens to your car". Then he screached his car to level with mine and started trying to manouvere his car round mine to get his on his "drive".

Given what he'd said about my car getting damaged, I started videoing him from my path and he started screaming at me again that if I could video him, I could move the car.

I probably should have stayed videoing but I was pretty shaken and I could hear the toddler had woken up in the house so I went back in.

A few minutes later he is relentlessly hammering on the door again. Apparently he has managed to maouvere his car onto his paved garden past mine. He says "Just to let you know im going out at 7.30am so Ill need you to move it" (not said nicely!) So I said "fine if you need me to move it, ill move it for you to get out" .

So he says "so you'll move it for me to get out?" And I said "yes if you need me to" And he said "Ive changed my mind. I'm going out again now. I need you to move it again now" So I just said "no" and he started arguing with me that I'd said I'd move it if he needed to get his car out. He was shouting at me again that the council have told him he can park his car there and has a right to access and that I'm inconsiderate.

I just shut the door and went back in but I'm still shaking

This needs reporting to the police really. Do you have anyone who can come round to sit with you?

WiddlinDiddlin · 06/06/2026 20:36

Do you have the video of him getting it on his drive?

Id be telling him he can get it on his drive, then he can clearly get it off again and then I'd go and call the police because he has made threats to damage property and verbally attacked you in the street and you fear further action from him. What a prick.

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 20:25

UPDATE

I'm shaking.

He came back about 15 minutes ago. Im already in bed as I'm not feeling well and toddler was asleep. He absolutely hammered on my door until I went down.

By the time I got downstairs he was sat in the car in the road outside my house. When I opened my front door he screamed at me from the car that I need to move my car so he can access his "drive". (Its not a drive).

I said no I wasn't moving the car and I was going back in as I had a toddler in the house. He carried on screaming at me to move the car and then said "if youre not going to move it, its not my responsibility if anything happens to your car". Then he screached his car to level with mine and started trying to manouvere his car round mine to get his on his "drive".

Given what he'd said about my car getting damaged, I started videoing him from my path and he started screaming at me again that if I could video him, I could move the car.

I probably should have stayed videoing but I was pretty shaken and I could hear the toddler had woken up in the house so I went back in.

A few minutes later he is relentlessly hammering on the door again. Apparently he has managed to maouvere his car onto his paved garden past mine. He says "Just to let you know im going out at 7.30am so Ill need you to move it" (not said nicely!) So I said "fine if you need me to move it, ill move it for you to get out" .

So he says "so you'll move it for me to get out?" And I said "yes if you need me to" And he said "Ive changed my mind. I'm going out again now. I need you to move it again now" So I just said "no" and he started arguing with me that I'd said I'd move it if he needed to get his car out. He was shouting at me again that the council have told him he can park his car there and has a right to access and that I'm inconsiderate.

I just shut the door and went back in but I'm still shaking

OP posts:
Coconutter24 · 06/06/2026 19:48

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 17:54

I said that. He said that the council had told him he was fine to park there.

I know you said that, I was replying to the comment that said he was parking illegally

suburburban · 06/06/2026 19:41

Coconutter24 · 06/06/2026 17:50

His parking wasn’t illegal, his actions to get to the parking spot were

Yes you knew what I meant, you cannot drive over a kerb

concertinacornflake · 06/06/2026 19:22

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 17:54

I said that. He said that the council had told him he was fine to park there.

Pull the other one!

SunnyRedSnail · 06/06/2026 19:08

I had this EXACT same issue with a terrace house in Oxford! We had an "offroad parking space" but didn't have a dropped kerb, so it wasn't actually a parking space.

Legally, if we were parked on the drive, then other cars were not allowed to block us in, but if no car was parked, then as there was no dropped kerb then anyone could park there, which was fair enough.

The council wouldn't let us drop the kerb as they said it would then remove TWO road parking spaces (as the dropped bit has to be wide enough for a car to enter the driveway at an angle).

My housemate would usually park on the drive then I'd block him in if I couldn't find another space, and move my car if needed. I'd also often block the driveway if he was out so I saved the driveway space for him. It was a faff but did mean we both had a space with a bit of car moving.

Isobel201 · 06/06/2026 18:58

Only suggestion I would make is that if you have a rear garden you could turn that into a parking space, although if another road is facing that you might have the same issue. I used to live in a terraced house and we had a back alley big enough to get cars down, so a few properties did turn their gardens into driveways.

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 18:17

FridayOnMyMind · 06/06/2026 18:01

Although the posts about him not being allowed to drive across the path are correct it’s worth remembering that if he doesn’t then he’ll just be using the space on the road in front of it, so the street isn’t gaining a space by using the one in front of his house if it results in him parking in the street again.

This being the case, is it worth getting into a dispute over?

The length of his car is shorter than the width of his garden, so this would be better - and is what he was doing until a few weeks ago!

OP posts:
FridayOnMyMind · 06/06/2026 18:01

Although the posts about him not being allowed to drive across the path are correct it’s worth remembering that if he doesn’t then he’ll just be using the space on the road in front of it, so the street isn’t gaining a space by using the one in front of his house if it results in him parking in the street again.

This being the case, is it worth getting into a dispute over?

somanychristmaslights · 06/06/2026 18:00

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 17:54

I said that. He said that the council had told him he was fine to park there.

Yeah he’s lying. If he carries on demanding you move your car, report him to the council. Or though him parking there frees up one space for others to be able to park on the road.

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 17:59

stichguru · 06/06/2026 17:56

Your parking was perfectly legal yes. He does not have the right to just stop other people parking in front of his garden if there is no dropped curb. He also doesn't have the right to get you to keep coming out to move your legally parked car to let him drive in an out of an entrance that isn't an entrance.

However, be careful you don't uphold your right to park there and actually make it harder for yourself to park. If he gets wind of the fact you are not going to move your car for him (which you don't legally need to do), he may just start taking the spot you legally park in outside his garden, whenever he can.

This could means that his car sits legally parked for days outside his house (when he has no-where to go) and you have to come and go, parking in different random spaces further away. If you'd not objected to him using his garden, all that time he might have parked on his garden, enabling you to use the space undisturbed.

That would actually be preferable. His car is so tiny I could probably still fit. That's where he used to park until a few weeks ago.

OP posts:
SnappyQuoter · 06/06/2026 17:58

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 17:56

Im not sure he would get permission for a dropped kerb. The front gardens are only very short. He has one of the smallest possible cars and it still overhangs onto the pavement slightly.

Then he doesn’t have a driveway, doesn’t have a hope of a driveway, the council haven’t given him permission. It’s a garden. That’s it. None of those is your problem; park where you want.

DeathStare · 06/06/2026 17:56

Im not sure he would get permission for a dropped kerb. The front gardens are only very short. He has one of the smallest possible cars and it still overhangs onto the pavement slightly.

OP posts:
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