To be concerned about a man sitting outside my house for the past 5 hours?

[Whitechocolatetoblerone]

As title.

I was making breakfast before I dashed out to work at 7.55 pm and a car with blacked out windows parks up on the pavement outside. A man sat there with an iPad.

I have just returned home for lunch 5.5 hours later and he is still here, still sat in the car with iPad. I am here on my own for the next few days as DP is away and it is freaking me out. It is a residential street but quiet as we are in the country.

Should I approach him?

The Police would not tell you that the plates were fake.

I think the plates were real but the police were fake.

Ooh, curiouser and curiouser.
Maybe he's a diplomat....he wouldn't be the first dodgy one

Well to be fair she didn't say they told her they were fake, she said they couldn't find them. That could mean they were fake anything.

So the police told you he had fake plates?

They didn't say the plates were fake, he said 'that reg isn't coming up in the system' I said, that can't be, that is DEFINITELY the plate no, he said was I sure I said yes (I am) so I'm reading between the lines.

I am just a bit creeped out that I know someone has seen my every movement today.

Unless you've done absolutely everything in front of your front windows, he hasn't, has he? The most he's seen is you coming out and turning right, or coming out and turning left. And maybe going straight ahead if you live on a crossroads.

vestandknickers I reported a young lad on a scooter for unsociable behaviour and drug dealing in the park to the police and they told me his plates didn't match any on their system. (Although admittedly they asked if I was sure I had written the number down correctly first, which I was as I had taken a photo on my phone)

That's nice Keith. Not sure why you're telling me specifically.

You can easily check plates yourself on one of the car sites. It gives you the make and model and colour of the car. I know this because I am very sad and cried when we got rid of a car about 7 yrs ago, I check occasionally to see if it's still in existence To be fair I had only just about a year before had a baby so was very hormonal.

Hmm sounds like he's watching someone maybe if he's been taking notes. Hopefully he'll not return.

I honestly wouldn't worry.

I have been sat outside someone's house all day today. I do it a lot for work. I'm actually watching a house down the street.

I do get people glaring at me through their windows like you are doing. I prefer them to ask me what I'm doing as they might be able to help with info! And I'm happy to move along a bit if asked nicely.

I've had the cops called on me a few times, they usually turn up, check my ID and buggar off.

If someone was properly staking out your house they wouldn't be parked in front of it on their iPad. The number plate is probably just a discrepancy.

Stop being so paranoid, OP.

There will be a perfectly plausible explanation.

Soryt of thing DH might do- he hires stuff out for events, so might drop something to someone then sit in the car doing admin online rather than spend petrol money driving tot he office then back again in a few hours.

Probably a VAT or DWP bod doing surveillance tbh. When I worked at VAT they'd often ask us to go out secret squirelling and I always said no- why would anyone choose to sit bored in a car for hours watching a doorway? even data entry is better than that!

He might even be a copper on some sort of observation thing!.

Remember that silly maxwell thing where she shouted to someone' eff off you lot or I'll call the police to which they replied "we are the police"!

Go on call 101 and report it it may be innocent enough it may not, but either way you will have done something about it. I have seen people just doing that what you describe in our street sometimes never was bothered by them anyway but call old bill all the same you have a good reason for doing so:)

Please read my update- I reported it. Police agreed it was odd & couldn't trace no plate so now I'm even more worried

I had a car with 4 lads parked outside my house for hours one day. I eventually decided to phone the police but whilst I was giving them the details, the car drove off! Spooky coincidence to the OP!
Police were very interested in them, wanting full descriptions, what direction they drove in etc.

They didn't say the plates were fake, he said 'that reg isn't coming up in the system' I said, that can't be, that is DEFINITELY the plate no, he said was I sure I said yes (I am) so I'm reading between the lines

It's far more likely that there's a glitch in the system or an error on the database than anything sinister. 'The system' is only as reliable as the information that has been added to it. The MID, for example, has loads of missing or incorrectly loaded vehicles. So the 'non-traceability' is far more likely to be due to human error or a tech glitch.

When dd was a baby I drove round until she fell asleep, parked up in a lay by and fell asleep myself. Woke up to two police officers knocking on the window- someone had seen me and thought I had committed suicide.......

OR, he's finagled the letters of the plate to try and spell a word/initials. OR, it's in the system wrong.

Honestly, OP, stop panicking. It's unlikely to be anything sinister - as you said yourself - no-one up to something dodgy sits in a car in full view of everyone for eight hours.

I get the slight concern, OP, but doubt he's going to murder you in your bed.

chipshop, how intriguing, what do you do? (If the feds will let you tell us?)

Hope you have seen the last of him open. I am sure it's something and nothing though.

Why are you more worried now? He's gone!

It doesn't sound sinister to me. Odd, but not sinister.

I wonder how he managed 8 hours without a wee?