to comment on neighour's strange and rude behaviour - sort of funny but maybe not (warning: includes parking)

[UndomesticBlonde]

We live in a street where we have an allocated parking bay each, ours is thankfully right outside our house. There is room for five other cars in the parking bay and at some point one of the neighbours painted in white lines to divide the bay up.
Well the other day while coming back from the school run I notice the neighbours from over the road holding a tape measure - they are right outside our house, as I say they are not ND neighbours so I asked the husband (I'm a 'young' mum this couple are semi retired 60s-early 70s maybe) if I could help with anything. He then tells me that the parking bays (this couple moved in just over 2 years ago) have not been draw in fairly, and he and his wife are down by several inches. So - and his wife has now joined us _ I ask nicely "If you re-draw thje lines you will tell us won't you?' To which the wife tells me to 'shut up'. Thankfully I'm reasonable and also trained in soothing confrontation. I tell her that I can talk thank you and continue my conversation in a nice soothing manner. We end up having a chat and then I go indoors.The neighbours redraw the lines and nothing has changed they go over the old lines with an inch taken from the top on our side. I find it laughable, because they have given themselves an extra parking space outside their house. My mum has parked there when helping look after my DDs and the woman threatened her. They aslo threatened their NDN (a retired nurse - lovely lady) on the left when her dog barked (the dog was a puppy being trained) - the woman's wording sounded like she would do something to the dog. We've tried to get on with this couple but I wonder if they are showing slightly psychotic behaviour. Or AIBU!!!?

Ah parking envy. . That lack of an inch has driven them to the bizarre behaviour!!
Start waving to them when you have parked up. They will be watching you every time op!!

Report them to the council for unauthorised damage to public property. Surely neighbours can't just go and paint their own parking bays and start enforcing rules.

I would also mark down notes of difficult interactions (threatening your mum/ telling you to shut up etc), with dates/ times/ who was present, just for your records in case this escalates.

Good idea Zoe it is kind of funny - I'm used to working in a fast-paced working environment where the odd swear word is uttered - but normally at a computer. My husband thinks that they would scratch our cars. I'm not sure our parking bays are council property though.

So they've given themselves an extra space??

Any chance you could go out in the dead of night and repaint them so that their space is reduced to half a car length?

Nike hmmm I think that might make things worse....
I've already confronted them - in a non-aggressive, 'I see what you are doing' way. But these people are not reasonable are they?!
Mary they claim the spot outside their house but it's not an official parking bay, its and extra space for guests. But they put a sign up saying 'parking' - we actually chuckled a bit at that...

If it's outside their house, you only need to add one curvy line to have a sign labelling them as "Barking"?

;-p

I would feel like painting double yellow lines on "their" space at night.

I hate to say this, but a diagram would help. They have shaved off a few inches from your spot, AND they have given themselves an extra bay for their own use? On your side of the road or theirs (you say they gave themselves an extra space outside their house but which side of the road I seem to be reading your side of the road)? Are the bays marked so that everyone knows whose they are? Are the bays parallel parking spaces or perpendicular/slantways to the kerb?

**MyOtherNameIsTaken- fab idea,!

Don't paint yellow lines on 'their' space - paint a yellow box that has to be kept clear or paint "Keep Clear - Access Required 24 x 7" on the ground

I also think a diagram would help...

(Genuinely!)

I am a bit confused.

they have made the lines in the communal 5 bay area more equal as they see it.

they have also now painted a further new box outside their house?
If this is true then you need to do one of two things:

1. if its a public road owned by highways call them now and get this stopped. they have no right to do this and if you leave it unchallenged then they will ramp up complaints when someone parks in it.

1. if its on privately owned land then you need to speak to the landowner asap and also look at your deeds.

honestly, however much you hate confrontation this is the start of a neighbour dispute that will get nastier and nastier as time goes on.

nip it in the bud now op. take it incredibly seriously and act accordingly.

We live on an estate so nobody is able to park outside there home. One elderly resident took it on himself to paint white hatching on a space near his house, he then painted disabled resident on it.

Unfortunately his disability seemed to include an inability to spell. It read
DISBLED RESDANT

PetalMePotts - that's a bit of a nasty post to be honest.

Yes but if you are going to pull a stunt like that, at least check the spelling.

Lighten up Mary

shock mary and mummy
we have the end bay so they only shaved a bit off ours on one side. They've not painted a bay outside their house but have banned others from parking on it by a) putting a 'parking no' on the wall by this 'parking space'. Before they arrived we all used to use that slot for guests. mummy this has been going on since they moved into the street - about 18 months.

Blonde you need some spray paint.

Mner space. .
Park at own risk -

I'm a bit confused about how you have an 'allocated parking bay each' if there were originally no lines drawn in the bay?

So there's an official bay, with space for 5 cars, I'm assuming five houses and one permit each? Then one bay that's 'for visitors'? No permit required? Visitors permits? Can you use visitors permits in the official bay?

I'd just stick to whatever the official rules are and ignore any and all lines/sign/rules added by neighbours.

Oh, and start a diary of their harassment, because I'd expect it to get worse rather than better.

Just how I would love to! Gandalf (my DD's name for her grandfather btw) diary started, and yes there is an official bay with one parking space for each house, there are 25 houses in the street each with one parking space.

Is there anything in your deeds or other documents from when the houses were built that refer to the space as a communal one - or at least show that it wasn't allocated to anyone?