Neighbour blocked shared drive deliberately, AIBU or are they?

Agree with @Yupstillhere , I'd also remind them that at some point they will require YOU to be accommodating as they will probably also need access for work or collections too, and you'd much rather foster positive reciprocal arrangements ie they should stop being a twat!

And yes. Reclaim your actual drive, get them to move every single time or block them in and tell him that's what you will HAVE to do.

Where did it say the rubbish was piled up on the drive ? It didn't so goodness knows where you got that from. No doubt it was in front of the OPs own garage or in her garden.

You can start by parking on the drive, if you cant get near to the front of your garage because he is over you side then block him in till he asks you to move, then tell him to shif his car to his side of the drive so you can get your car on, hes trying to assert dominance over the drive, you have to stop him.

also check your deads on the land registry to see if its down as an Easment, if it is that is a legally protected peice of land nither of you own and for access only.

Go and speak to them first and ask why he blocked access to your rubbish removers using your shared drive. He may have a reason (presumably he does in his own head, however ridiculous). Once you've heard this, you can decide what to do next. But I think you do need to have a (calm) conversation first before moving onto letters and what have you.

Our drives are adjoining not shared, it’s marked out on our deeds in red. Some get confused between shared and adjoining drives.

Pile the rubbish on your drive right upto the line

It was silly to leave rubbish out to be collected in your absence if the neighbours have form for being awkward. You should have arranged the collection for a day when you'd be at home. Why did the guy even go to your neighbour's door to ask permission?

Was this disclosed to you before you bought?

We have had a similar situation in past. Previous owners let neighbours get away with parking on shared drive. When we moved in we told them we would need to use the drive & garage. They said "don't worry just knock & we'll move". So we did but it was irritating as we had two small children & I was very pregnant. I said I hope they didn't mind us knocking if I went into labour in the night. They soon got fed up and parked properly.

Why do people behave in this way? Life is so much harder, and it takes more effort, being an awkward arsehole.

I always wonder this too. It's annoying for everyone else but imagine actually being that bitter and twisted and just absolutely horrible?

I've had this very scenario years ago. Normal neighbours moved and pita neighbours moved in. One BH I had to ask them to move their car 5 times. After a row it was agreed that no one could park on the shared drive. Up until then common sense had prevailed and it wasn't an issue. This is not going to end well. Sorry.

He probably went there as he's a normal, polite sort of person and he needed to park on a shared driveway for 15 minutes to collect rubbish. Therefore he wanted to flag it up with dickhead neighbour,not ask permission as such, in case there might be a problem eg getting ndn's car out. And there was a problem, an ongoing one, ie the neighbour is an unreasonable trouble causer.

You've reminded me,OP, why I'm very thankful not to share a driveway. Go the legal route if you have to.

there is no need to write a letter that they will ignore. actions speak louder than words. when he takes his car off the drive move yours up to be outside your garage. if he rarely moves the car park yours on the drive and explain that you would move it out of the way if only he would move over.

stop standing for his shit. they behave like knobs because they are being enabled to. its a shared drive and at the moment you are excluded so you have to take back control of the situation. make him speak to you about it by blocking him if you cant get your car up to your garage. we had a shared drive it worked like a dream because both of us were considerate and acted like adults.

I think its time to introduce your neighbours to the concept of FAFO.
I would make sure I park in front of my garage on my drive every single time and knock on your neighbours door and make him move his car if you cannot access your parking spot every single time (note, if you cannot access it only, not if it is difficult, if it is just difficult, do it anyway - with care. If he starts to ignore your knocks, park behind him on the shared drive blocking him in with a note on his car that he has blocked your parking space and was not available so you have had no choice but to park where you have. Dont be in a hurry to remove it either if he knocks on your door at 6am to get to work - take your time to get dressed etc.
I'd consider taking him to small claims court for the cost of the removal van returning a second time too. What he did was spiteful and deliberate. Even if he had refused access to the removal people on the day, they could have parked on the road and carried the stuff off but he deliberately blocked them off. Make sure you have your legal documents on your access rights on your side, get a statement from your removal company on what happened, the pictures they took and go for it.

Yep. What @Firefly100 said

Use your drive to get to your garage and park your car on your property

Knock on his door every time he blocks you in, which is an offence, and every time he blocks you off

You don't have to explain, just knock and ask him to move his car. He knows what he is doing so make knocking on his door part of your leaving and arriving home ritual

You have allowed him to silently dictate to you. Stop doing that

Makes me wonder if the previous house owner declared their dispute with the neighbours over that scaffolding or not.

It isn't made for two. It's a shared driveway. It's a normal single driveway width but both houses have use of it. It's only double width at the end where the garages are. So neighbour parking his car on the actual driveway, not in front of his garage, blocked access entirely.

Thanks, yes, this has been addressed.

Get a camera up asap and speak to a solicitor about how to handle this.
I doubt they are allowed to block your reasonable use of the space.

You need a divider up, like a planter between the garages so you don't have to park on the road.

Get proof and then go for harassment and prevention of access via a letter.

They are bullies. Only one way to deal with them.
Cameras up recordibg everything.

Was their conflict with the previous owners?
Worth checking out with your solicitor as it should have been declared.

The suggestion of small claims court for costing you by their road blockage, especially as you have photos and the testimony of the removals man, is a very good idea.

I’d send them a strongly worded solicitors letter telling them that the next step will be to sue them for preventing lawful access.

What a weirdo! It makes you wonder what goes on in some people's heads. It was a minor inconvenience to have to move his car, but blocking the drive was just as much work as moving out of the way would have been, and now he's antagonised his neighbour. If the rubbish removers had been less careful, they could well have tried to move things past his car and damaged it, and even if he got them to cover the repairs, he'd still have had the headache of taking it in and being without a car. Unfortunately, he's a petty idiot!

Check your house deeds is it definitely shared?
If so yes, of course you need to have words with them but stay calm. Why wouldn't you it's your drive too but check.

They sound unreasonable, unless you’ve left rubbish in the way for an unreasonably extended period, or somehow been bad neighbours, but even then, they should have tackled any issue directly rather than getting in the way of your contractors.

Given that they have form for being difficult with this kind of thing, I would have scheduled the removal for when you were present. Easy to say with hindsight I know.

There are two issues - one is that you need to be able to enjoy regular access to your garage by car, and you also need to sort out this rubbish removal. I would talk to them face to face if you can, when you return.