What could I put across a cut through to make it less like a cut through and maybe reclaim it?

[AllAtHome]

So, we bought a house and to my horror part of the garden has a path that has been used as a cut through. As far as we are has been as long as the old owners were there, therefore has been turned into an official path.

Obviously, because of this it’s not 'ours', so we can’t block it off. My plan (if possible) is to make Iook less and less like a cut through, so that those that use it will continue to do so, but as the years pass newer people will not know about it and older people will move away/ forget.

Please tell me this is possible...

So far, I’ve thought about bushes that can get bushier...

Easy. Sprinklers.

You're welcome!

If it wasn’t outside our front door, I might agree

That last picture has me confused 😅
Could you do the Google maps image, but in satellite View?

Also dubious that this is a public right of way.

Let's assume it is though. Couldn't you still put a gate on it? Plenty of public footpaths through farms are gated. Would put most people off I'd assume, unless they had a map in their hand indicating that it was actually a footpath rather than someone's garden.

Did you say the garden is gravel rather than grass? I do tend to cut through places (not residential front gardens!!) where there's a clear path worn away in the grass. Wonder if re-turfing would help, along with a fence or overgrown bramble bush?

Try again... This might be worse!

Black = our boundary
Black hatch = public land
Blue = official path
Red = unofficial path that’s not on our land
Red dotted = unofficial path on our land

It definitely didn’t used to be a path. It’s whether the previous owners let it be a path (out of naive kindness) for long enough that it has become one...

Forgot the picture!

Actually, the black boundary at the bottom is not quite low enough - you can actually see the hedge boundary!

Pots of flowers dotted around and right next to the path. Garden bench nearly in the way.... particularly if you sat on it regularly!

I don't think it matters how long neighbours let it be a path. Surely if it's your private land you can use however you like I.e. Block it off

Doesn't there have to be a sign saying 'public footpath' if a path goes across someone's land?

Probably your neighbour is taking rubbish and just wants to keep using the cut through

As it’s not a proper right of way I would get a big fence with a locked gate.

I might be wrong but I thought the 20 year thing was if it had been used successfully for 20 years without permission and without being challenged? If someone gives permission that’s different and they’re allowed to withdraw that permission if they want?

Even if the above is wrong I’d block it off and if someone wants a legal challenge let them employ a solicitor....I bet most people wouldn’t bother.

So is there a gap in a hedge where the red line meets the red dotted line?
I'm wondering if previous owners left a gap for their own benefit, to access the path beyond the newer houses. But in any case, I really think the answer is to block the gap now and start as you mean to go on. The longer you leave it, the harder it'll probably be.

New house, gap in the boundary, fill in the gap. Surely no-one has a legal right to your front garden. Anyone using the cut - through will realise that it's your garden and I can't imagine anyone will challenge it legally. The previous owner may have given permission that certain people can use it, but you haven't.

I suppose the question for your solicitor is 'exactly where is the boundary line as I'm erecting a fence'

Tom Romecin in Claiming a right of way by prescription outlined the requirements that a trespasser must fulfil to obtain a right of way by prescription (i.e. long historical use). By way of a reminder, a trespasser has to establish that the land has been used “as a right” and therefore “without force, without secrecy and without permission” for over 20 years.

Looks like I was right, so if previous owners gave permission then the 20 year thing doesn’t count.
But you need to stop it now.

www.wrighthassall.co.uk/knowledge/legal-articles/2015/03/31/landowners-can-prevent-rights-way-prescription/

That’s a good question to ask.

Years ago before the houses were built, there was public/ farm land all around. Our house would have been on the very edge of the village. New houses built onto the outskirts using bought farm land, so it is now no longer on the edge of the village (this has been the case for years now). The gap was created by the building of the houses and the gap between the house/ new garden boundary. A bus route was added to the edge of the houses (the 'new edge' of the village). People use the cut through to get between bus stops or to go from bus stop to new houses (from town, it’s quicker to get off early and walk through than stay on the bus on a roundabout route and get off at the stop that accesses the houses and to town if you walk through, you can get a later bus).

Would you feel okay posting the boundary image from your title deeds?
Also, does the blue official path pass close to any of your doors or windows? It looks like the blue path is between your house and the hedge (in that satellite image). Is that your hedge?

The satellite image is not 100% the same as the deeds. The path stops at the edge of our house (the join between the two houses). What you can see from the image is the flat roof from the side extension
The hedge stops at the edge of the house where the path stops - google maps doesn’t show this very well - where a gate might be - the front doors of the two houses are very close. The path doesn’t run in front of the windows.

I mean the path stops where the path might meet a gate. The path would have been a dead end until the other houses were built. The google image path ends a little further along.

If you recently bought the property. Your conveyancing solicitor would have had searches done and rights of way would be marked , they should have flagged anything like this up it's what you are paying them for
you can go to the land registry or council to double check then fence it so it's obvious garden & it cannot be used as a cut through

A prickly hedge is probably harder to argue with than a fence.

Have a look on gardenlaw.com or if you are feeling brave start a thread. They are very knowledgable.

The council will usually have all PROW on an online map, check to see if it's on there, if not pop your fence up.

how about something like this?

I would stop using a short cut if
A) It was slippery muddy (you can put a plastic sheet down and cover with a little soil then cover with Cocoa shells)
B) I caught my clothes on wet or thorny shrubs