Man sitting outside of my house

[Whatnametochoose85]

Hello,
(Not so much as an AIBU but more of a what would you do type of situation)

So this morning at roughly 07:30am a car pulled up outside my house which is nothing unusual in itself as I live on quite a busy street where there is lots of on-street parking, not many houses have driveways so residents just park wherever they can. At that time of the morning there were quite a few empty spaces along the street, one being in front of our home. A man was sitting inside the car and looked like he was texting on his phone.
I didn't think anything of it, went to work at 8:30, returned for lunch to let the dog out and the car is still there with the man sitting with his phone in his hand as before. Went back to work and just returned to see he's still there!!

I've never seen him or the car before, he's not a resident on the street (as far as I know). I've lived here for 14 years and recognise the neighbours and their cars. I initially just brushed it off as he may be waiting for someone, or may be a relative of a neighbour or something like that but as time has gone on I am feeling a bit uneasy about it!
He's not harming anyone, seems to be minding his own business but I can't help feel it's a bit odd.
He's obviously seen me leave and return so has known when the house was empty. I think this is what has made me feel a bit creeped out. I'm probably overreacting, but what do you think ?

Cruising free unlocked/unsecured wi-fi ? We had this in our road, one of the neighbours had no security in place on their router. Also had one of the neighbours being surveilled by a Govt’ Agency I called the local Police - they dropped by, said it would be an ongoing activity, I was asked not to inform anyone else but my Husband who I had obviously spoken to about notifying our neighbourhood Policing team.

Is he wearing a black suit?
Probably an alien on your road.

Undercover police.

Anyone wishing to break into a house is not going to sit outside all day working out how or when to do it, he would have been in and out in a flash.

Might be looking for anyone that has flown in from Spain for instance, save us the trouble of reporting and all that.

@User87471643901065319

@VettiyaIruken

I think it might have been something to do with being the only Muslim family in the area . We aren’t terrorists btw! I’m not even a Muslim myself. My family had recently done Hajj. It wasn’t long after 7/7...maybe within a year of it. We were frequently stopped at airports for no reason...I still am! Despite having a unique name, and being a Christian myself. My family worshipped at a mosque with an excellent reputation, nothing dodgy going on there at all.

There was no other reason for the surveillance that I could see. Our elderly grandma was living with us and on DLA but I was (on the downlow) told it was MOD not DWP.

Make sure he knows you have spotted him!!!

Wow has he not had a pee break? I wouldn't make a very good undercover cop.

On a serious note, log his registration number, make and model of car, and if you can discreetly take a photo of him. You never know if you will need the details later, so better to be on the safe side.

knock on his window and ask him.

He's probably heard about the topless (or rather generously topped ) mumsnetters who are on other threads flashing their assets while doing their cleaning. Don't disappoint him OP.

I had this when I had an large insurance claim ongoing
Used to wave to them in the end 😂

Have you seen him move?
A similar thing happened to someone I know and the poor chap had pulled over because he was having a heart attack. The way he was slumped made him look like he was texting when in reality he was unconscious.

Don't report it. Make a note of the registration number and maybe get a photo of the car. But until or unless anything actually happens, he's just a man sitting in a car parked legally. No one will be interested in that.

Used to wave to them in the end

Mine started waving at me and looking very sheepish.

Almost certainly DWP or private detective. A robber would not make himself so conspicuous. Neighbour was filmed gardening after claiming disability for years.

I once sat for about 6 hours outside a house, I was a private hire driver and had a London airport meet. I had taken person to the airport that morning and was meeting several hours later as it was over 100 miles home it was easier to wait. The home owner asked me what i as doing there and after I explained made me a cup of tea.

Undercover police. Though if you've spotted him, whoever he's after will have too.

I was wondering about a pee break! It's a long time!
I will get a photo of I can without him spotting me.
He definitely knows I've seen him today

I'd say surveillance too, but a distant relative stunned us all last year by admitting he'd lost his job some time ago and had been pretending to go to work for weeks.

He's unlikely to be casing the joint while wearing High-vis. They normally go for low-vis for obvious reasons.

You should very obviously take a photo of him and the car and call the police before hand. I hesitated once before in the same situation like you and when I eventually rang the police it was a local burglar that was casing the street. They scolded me for taking so long, by which time he had left.

Without wishing to ruin the mystique of undercover work, I have to tell you OP that they pee in bottles.

I’d be going out there, banging on the window and asking if he wanted a cuppa. But taking his reg is prob a better idea.

• unlikely to be casing the joint while wearing High-vis" Well he's obviously been spotted!

I wouldn't have thought police would tell a random caller exactly WHICH house they were watching to the poster who said they phoned up and was told it was her house being staked out .

Bloody hell name change, how awful for you!