to think it's not ok to park a commercial vehicle on a residential street

[kitchengirl]

Posted in chat but no reply yet, so I thought I'd try here. Please help me decide if I'm just being grumpy about this! I live on a terraced street which is fairly busy in terms of parking. A flat bed van parks on our road every evening, but I am pretty certain the owner doesn't live around here. He drives here in the morning in his car, leaves the car here during the day, taking the van to work, then returns the van here overnight, driving his car to wherever his home is. Over the weekend the van is left here and doesn't move again until Monday. Am I right in thinking that he can't do this? Is there a rule against parking commercial vehicles on a residential street? I'm fed up with having to drive to another street to find parking and having to look out the window at his van outside my house all weekend!

Thank you for all your responses. Interesting to hear lots of different points of view.

If it really annoys you and one of your neighbours then next time he parks you park your car right in front of his truck and the neighbour parks right or behind him. I mean a fraction of a centimetre away from his bumpers but be very careful to to touch his truck. Leave your two care parked legally for a few days, he will be unable to move his truck. Stand with a camera and take photos if he attempts to move and damage your cars. That should make him see sense. I've tried this and when the other driver called the police they said nothing illegal had occurred.

yanbu from my own experience. I'm sure all these people would love what you describe

jellyhead... council and the traffic commissioner and get those road narrowing bollards put in on access roads.

There is a lorry stuck inside a local estate at the moment - owner refuses to pay to have the bollards removed long enough for him to remove it and council will only remove to a compound, not to owner. They wrote letters, gave dates and the man left 4 of his cabs on the estate over the weekend dates he was given. It was as though he thought they were joking. He managed to drive 3 out over the work in progress, but the work was finished before he went back for the last one.

Lol at buy a house with a drive. So what if you change careers after you buy a perfectly good house then?
Lots of people are self employed and need a van and not all are nasty white van drivers. And knowing someone with a van comes in very useful for local house moves, PTA fetes and fireworks events, carting around stuff for local groups etc.
I was very grateful to a decorator who stopped to help me last year when he spotted me lugging an oversized Christmas tree down the road.
I agree that big depot vans need to be at a depot but otherwise a road is a road.

Pauline the police will intervene in that situation. It's a pathetic suggestion anyway!

I disagree LovleyRitaMeterMaid I have tried this and the police simply said that all vehicles were legally parked. What law or regulation specifies the distance you have to leave between parked cars? ;As far as I know there is none. Doing what I suggested means the truck driver has to talk to you to get you to move your car and that gives a chance to explain the problem.
I did this when I was 17 and someone blocked access for a friends grandfather's car. My friend and I both commuted by public transport and the other person's car was stuck there for 6 days. He never parked there again. (I seem to remember he was a sales rep and it was a company car and no doubt he had problems explaining it to his boss)

I think a van parked outside the owners home is ok - but in this case it doesn't belong to anyone living in that road. It is rude and inconsiderate. He must know it will be annoying and still chooses to do it.

What shitty behaviour!

I don't know about the regulations but when t happened to me on my mums street the police came and located the driver through his number plate and got him to move it. It's common sense not to act like a twat and block someone in.

YANBU, some of these responses are very harsh and I bet they'd feel differently in your situation. Just because something's not illegal doesn't mean that it's not antisocial. Other than a polite note on his windscreen (or several jars of treacle smeared all over his van in the dead of night ) there's probably not much you can do though.

People are still allowed to park in a street and good luck to him I say. If he could park it where he lived don't you think he would? I'd do it. I live in London and have stupid zone parking, not borough, damn zone and it pisses me off.

No you make fair points there tiggytape I think some people have just been pretty unsympathetic to the OP, there really isn't much she can do but it's still a crappy situation for her.

When you buy or rent a house you do not buy the space on the street outside your house (unless designated and allocated parking).

I know it is annoying but you have no more 'right' over the space outside your house than anyone else legally using a public highway.

I thought there was a limit to the size of van / lorry that could be parked on side streets etc?

Its annoying, but since its taxed and insured, he's doing nothing wrong, although not sure why he just doesnt park the van at his own house.

Anyone remember the mumsnetter who's DH lost a BMW, because he didnt move it.

Sorry haven't read all the thread, but would the insurance people be interested? Surely when you buy insurance you have to say where the vehicle is kept over night. If hes not keeping it where it should be could he be penalised? Not sure how to find out though or if it applies to work vehicles.

Good point will - if it's registered at a depot then it might not be insured for being kept on a street?

We have covenants on our houses which state we cannot park commercial vehicles on the road. It has been enforced in the past when necessary but we normally didn't have to take it that far. If you phone the company involved they often get the driver to park elsewhere as they want to keep the companies good name locally. It's worth a try.

Speaking as someone who chose a house with a drive specifically so we could get all our cars off the road, only to find the pillock next door parks his work van on the road and uses his drive for a skip, I say YANBU! It's a bloody pain getting off our own drive as you can't see up the road past the van, let alone drive round it easily when you have decided to risk pulling out. I'd say the majority of the NIMBYism is with the van drivers. Rant over.

At the end of the day, its a street so get over it really. If you want "exclusive" parking rights then you need to pay for them.