Urgent - WWBU to ask them to move their camper can out of our driveway

[bumbleymummy]

Strange situation - woke this morning to find a camper van parked at the end of our driveway. There's a note in the window with an apology saying that they are sorry to park there but they arrived late etc etc. it's a battered old thing with an Irish number plate. Do we give them the benefit of the doubt and think they'll be gone in the next hour or do we ask them to leave and risk creating a bad situation? I'm in the 'get off my land!' way of thinking but DH wants to give them an hour in case it is genuinely just a case of someone about to fall asleep and pulling into the nearest safe place. I would have thought if that was the case they would have moved on after a short nap though!

I meant intimadated!!!! Still think I've spelt that wrong. Anyway I wouldn't be comfortable in a lorry park and rather take my chances near a drive way.

Might have been safer surrounded by hairy lorry drivers. You sound very mean spirited.

If we weren't nice they would be gone already. I just don't like people taking the piss - note or not! Squeaky, I know they wouldn't know about it but I was thinking that they could move on to there if they still needed more sleep.

They left you a note - if they had bad intentions then they wouldnt have done that.

What is the problem?
They aren't blocking you in...they're on their own, and it's only half past nine!!

Have you a pathalogical fear of hippies or something?

You are very mean.

And this thread is a few months late.

There is no room at the inn. Knock Knock.
And you can not share your pesky drive way for a couple of hours so some weary travelers can get some sleep.

I don't see the problem tbh. They are not in the way, they have left a note. I'm sure they will move along soon

Rather surprised at all the people who would be completely fine with unknown people parking up on your property overnight, and on the grass too. What if the grass gets damaged?

I'm smelling some inverse snobbery here.

Personally I'd be banging on their window and asking them to move and calling the police if I had any problems after that.

Mean spirited? Seriously? Because we live in the country our driveway is fair game is it? I'd love to see the reaction if they'd pulled into a cul de sac and parked in someone's driveway! If we were mean they would have been moved on right away. I'm being understanding about the need for a rest break but I think someone is being very rude to plan to stay parked in someone's private driveway for as long as they want.

Thank you Rhinestone!

I don't think one can be rude whilst asleep.

They probably didn't plan it though. I have a friend (who lives at the opposit end of the country) who has had a really tough time recently and has ended up spending a few nights in her camper van. She is honestly the loveliest person you could ever meet, she's just had a lo t of problems, despite being a published author and being very successful at whet she does. This is the sort of thing she would do. Maybe it's her.

Is it a blue VW?

Well I suggest that as the Lady of The Manor, you get up there, rap on the windows and threaten them with the police sharpish. Then you'll have your bloody driveway all to yourself, and all will be right and proper with the world again.

Whatever. I'm going to get dressed.

No problem! Would you like me to come round with my mean-spirited, unwelcoming to travelers face on?

And TimeWasting, presumably they were awake when they decided to trespass on someone else's property.

He's away now anyway so he wasn't taking the piss. :)

I think you've been accomodating and they've had long enough now. Also I'm really nosey and have to go out in half an hour. Go give 'em a knock then come back and tell us what happened?!

We get this occasionally, we have a bit of rough ground and the end of our driveway, accessed over a private lane. Any vehicles I don't recognise get a gentle knock and a "Hi, can I help you?" I'm very nice about it, but I do like them to piss off somewhere else!

There you go then. Panic averted.

Id be more bothered about where they are having a wee! no bathrroms in a campervan!

Thanks for the offer Rhinestone. I'll keep you in mind if any of these entitled MNers come visiting! :)

They left a note. They probably did not know where else to park!

Driving around in the dark with a campervan looking for somewhere to park is not always easy, you know! I have lost count of how many times we have been lost, not found the camp site, not found a suitable lay by to park in, on our numerous trips out with the campervan. Granted that parking in somebodys drive is not ideal. We once ended up next to a tractor on the other side of the road of a farmhouse, I could see the curtains twitch in the morning. We were quick to drive off though, and in the light of day it was much easier to find a spot for breakfast.
We could not risk parking on the road in the dark, as this could cause accidents.
We did not want to get up at day break, as the kids needed their sleep. Sometimes things dont go according to plan. Especially if you find yourself in unknown areas, and especially if your GPS is giving you a hard time leading you around in circles.

So you panicked over nothing.

All is well and good.

To all those who think this is perfectly acceptable, would you honestly be completely 'cool' with strangers parking up and sleeping in your driveway overnight? Or rather on your front garden.

Really?? Or is this an MN outbreak of 'keeping it real' and inverse snobbery against the OP as she obviously is well off enough to have a house with a long driveway?

But they're not doing you any harm

Apart from the to the part of your ego that seems offended by their temerity to need to crash for a little while. It's hardly rude if they've recognised you might be put out/perturbed by it, and left you a note.

Can't you be a bit kinder to your fellow human being?

So answer the question bettybat, would you be ok with a stranger parking up on your front garden overnight? Or would you experience a range of emotions from mildly peturbed to feeling somewhat threatened?

What if the grass gets damaged...? I had no idea the verges of the OP drive were also used as a fairway/bowling green... it's grass for goodness sake, it'll spring up or grow back. The OP hasn't yet said that the campervan has been driven all over their fine lawn turning it into a quagmire...

Bumbley, it's quite clear that posters here feel that you would be reasonable to move them on immediately if you were blocked in - so comparisons to parking in someone's driveway in town are largely irrelevant. It's also not intimidatingly near your home.

I suggest that the cute note gives the impression of reasonable folk who seriously aren't trying to annoy you. If they aren't gone by lunchtime then knock politely and ask if they are ok/lost etc. Try to give the impression that you are concerned about them rather than territorial. If they say they are staying for a week/month/etc and refuse to move on then, feel free to call your local police's non-emergency number and ask them to come and have a word.