Random person smoking in front garden

[writergirl007]

I live in a flat with a big shared (with 20-odd neighbours) front and back garden. The front garden is easily accessible though a small gate/stepping over a low wall. My neighbours and I jointly own the garden - it's private property and we pay for its maintenance.

The flats are opposite a sports club used as a creche during the day. A lady who I assume works there regularly (like, hourly), wanders into our garden for a cigarette. She normally hides behind a tree (presumably it looks bad to smoke outside the creche).

It irks me. It's private property. Sometimes she is joined by a colleague or two. I'll check for fag butts next time I go outside but it wouldn't surprise me if she left them behind.

AIBU to think about asking her not to smoke in a privately-owned garden? (I don't like smoking much, obviously).

Sending the email as the OP did is actually far more sensible than confronting her in question and risking her kicking off or holding a personal grudge. Now she won't know who reported her.

I speak out of sympathy as the local business next door seemed to designate my doorstep as their official smoking zone. Until I went out one evening without realising anyone was there, got an awful fright when I came across the smoker and let out a blood curdling scream which could be heard half a mile away, and then asked "what on earth are you doing outside my house?"

If it happens again OP, the above is also quite a useful tactic. Businesses need to make provision for their employees, not neighbours.

I think you did the right thing.
It's your garden, not a public right of way.

Those of you who have had people smoking right on their doorstep, if I had been you, those smokers would have experiences tinnitus from my screaming at them, days later. CFs

I have this, but outside my house on the pavement. Turns out I have a recently opened care home a few houses down. Of course I do not own the road outside my house but it looks awful to see sometimes up to 4 women standing there smoking. Luckily it is not so frequent, but I have spoken to my sister who manages care homes and she says I should send an email complaining to the manager. She says she provides a designated smoking section which is out of sight in the garden of her homes for the use of carers who smoke and this is what she should be doing. We were not notified that a care home was being opened in a residential street which apparently we should have, the carers actions are certainly bringing it to peoples attention now.

For all those saying that the OP should have spoken to the woman herself - we had a CF sat with their mate on our wall whilst they had a chat and a fag, and let their kid run around our front garden. Went out to politely say ‘please don’t do that’ (our front garden is raised and a kid could really hurt themselves falling off a wall, and of course it’s really fucking rude), and was promptly told to ‘fuck off’ in a very aggressive manner. If people cared about these things, they wouldn’t do them in the first place.

As a ex smoker who wishes one day that they are deemed safe I would have a problem with that.

DoneLikeAKipper i hope you told them to get the fuck off your property before you call the police!