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AIBU?

At neighbours flaunting the wheelbarrow they stole from my garden?

26 replies

singingmum · 16/05/2007 14:39

Ok so newish neighbours have a wheelbarrow which is rusted and trashed in same places as the one that was removed from our garden.
Now I know it's just a wheelbarrow and an old one at that but they have parked it in theior front garden directly across from my kitchen window.Tghis is not the first thing that they have done.Their son stole pieces of our trellis last year and then his dad used what he could of the wood and I only realised it wasn't going to be returned when I saw blue stained wood pieces being loaded into their car for the dump.
Other stuff has gone missing on the estate I live on and then amazingly they have an item that was stolen.For example a ladder and a lawnmower went missing from someone we know and then they have new ladder and lawnmower.
This used to be an almost crime free estate and now it's not so the big question is-
AIBU to think these people should just grow up and bugger off?

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singingmum · 16/05/2007 15:07

probably then

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kookaburra · 16/05/2007 15:16

Sounds like yours - I expect the Inspector Clouseaux on one of the Madeleince threads could confirm.
We've had a similar wheelbarrow in our front garden for about 4 years I've been dying for someone to steal - you're welcome to that. (We've no used for it, but I can't take to the dump as DH insists it will be fine if I pump the tyres up )

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pesme · 16/05/2007 15:17

go adn nick it back

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southeastastra · 16/05/2007 15:18

no you're not being unreasonable. bizarre behaviour from your neighbours though

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hertsnessex · 16/05/2007 15:19

id take it back personally - esp if you kow its your. they are taking the p1ss

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Chirpygirl · 16/05/2007 15:20

I say steal it back as well, and then if they ask say it is yours and you don't know what they mean.

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singingmum · 16/05/2007 15:22

tempting but they are a bad bunch and have now moved in some of their friends (they rent and so do the friends from landlord who doesn't give a toss)
Am just so that there is no way to prove completely and now am having to lock everything in garden when haven't had to worry for so long.Am now even having to buy new shed instead of throwing my dd a b.day party as shed is giving up and won't shut properly.
Why can't people realise things like this are just not on.

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Tanee58 · 16/05/2007 15:22

Are they council tenants? If so, worth contacting the council's anti-social behaviour team. If not, ask the police for advice as such behaviour is likely to escalate.

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Tanee58 · 16/05/2007 15:23

Even if this is a private landlord, they are stealing - so call the police.

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singingmum · 16/05/2007 15:29

Not council estate.Trouble is proving it was them is not so easy.
The police have spent a lot of time there but have now stopped their visits.
TBH we knew there were going to be trouble when they moved in.They started out by working on cars that were theirs and then people started pulling up and they would work on those as well(constant stench of petrol etc is choking).
Think I am most annoyed at them ruining a really nice place to live it's annoying as have had trouble like this when I was kid at home.Am sick of these lowlifes thinking that whereever they live is for them only
[apologise for ranting but am p'd off]

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dionnelorraine · 16/05/2007 15:46

yeah, you should call the police! If you can identify the wheelbarrow as yours then thats enough (i think) Maybe your neighbours that lost lawnmower and ladder can do the same?

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lolamummy · 16/05/2007 15:57

Why would anyone want to steal an old wheelbarrow? .

If you can positively identify it as yours then tell the police but I fear that they'd laugh at you .

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Tanee58 · 16/05/2007 15:58

Dionne's right - and even if they aren't council tenants, the new ASBO policies are supposed to cover private residents as well ( I know - I work for a councillor/MP and these neighbour disputes are SO depressing because they really blight your life).

They shouldn't be working on so many cars on the street - it sounds tantamount to a business and that's against the law.

I suggest you contact your council's ASBAT section for advice - and the police SHOULD be able to help even if they're fed up with visiting - it's their job. And if no-one else helps, contact your local councillors or MP - that's what they're there for.

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LittleMouseWithCLogsOn · 16/05/2007 15:58

ROFL at FLUNTING a wheel barrow

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littlemissbossy · 16/05/2007 16:00

Wait until it's dark/they're out and go and steal it back

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MoodyMa · 16/05/2007 16:01

Take it back!!

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powder28 · 16/05/2007 16:02

Why not buy a right fancy wheelbarrow and wheel it up and down the road outside their window. That'll learn em

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dionnelorraine · 16/05/2007 16:07

thats a fab idea powder. But lock it up at night! [GRIN]

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lionheart · 16/05/2007 16:10

But flunting sounds like a particularly energentic form of out-door sex.

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bran · 16/05/2007 16:13

Mark everything you own with an ultra-violet marker, put your surname, your house number and your postcode. Then if they steal anything else you can at least prove it's yours. You never know, if you and your neighbours report the items stolen and where you've seen them it might be the excuse the police are looking for to search the house/bring them in for questioning. If they steal casually from the neighbours then I doubt that they are morally upright in everything else that they do.

It's worth getting in contact with the landlord, even if he doesn't care. If you tell him that they are stealing then he might worry about what they might steal from him. If you can imply that they are also damaging the property that might also worry the landlord.

Bad neighbours are the horrible.

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Ripeberry · 16/05/2007 16:14

If i was you, i would security mark everything you own in the shed, either with a metal punch or a UV marker pen.
Put up security lights in your front garden and side of house.
And, have a small security camera linked to an old vhs recorder and place discretely in an upstairs window, so you can see what they get up to. It must not look into their windows though.
It sounds extreme, but this is what my dad does just to keep his car safe!
Years ago when i lived at home he used to laugh at me going to the window to see if my car was OK.
Then he learnt to drive and got his first car and he is 1000X worse than me!
BUT, he has managed to help police catch some car thieves as his camera picked up a gang of known thieves walking down the road, they broke into a car further up and ran back down with the evidence!
AB

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kookaburra · 16/05/2007 16:17

'Flunting a wheelbarrow' sounds like one of those arcane festvials you hear about at Bank Holidays

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Nightynight · 16/05/2007 16:24

what awful neighbours, feel for you, but

flaunting a wheelbarrow is just so funny

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singingmum · 16/05/2007 20:59

I know it's funny thats why I put it that way.
As I see it it's more the fact of how rather than what they have taken it just seems so pathetic.
Police around here=useless I'm afraid.
No address or perfect proof no help.
Oh! And they'd laugh at it.
[Now have images of policeman rolling on floor ping themselves]

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Nightynight · 16/05/2007 22:11

It sounds as though they are pushing to see how far they can go with bullying other people.
why not go to your local police station and report the wheelbarrow stolen, and report anything else that they steal or damage, even if you cant prove its them.

I had neighbours like this a few years ago, and I called the police several times.

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