To call the police if this happens one more time

[PlentyPlenty]

I am so sick of our fucking neighbours they just have absolutely no respect for anyone.

There have been a few issues but my biggest annoyance recently is that they and their friends just seem to think it's fine to use our driveway all the time. They have a front garden, we have a drive. They are separated by a fence but there is a gap at the top to get bins in and out of the back of the houses.

Their friends are always riding motorbikes up and down our drive, or even just pacing up and down it taking phone calls. I have gone out and asked several times that they don't do this because it sets off our dog and often wakes our baby from his naps either by the dog barking or the noise from the bikes.

They have just done it again and woken up the baby, so I went out, crying baby in my arms and asked them to stop (politely) and to use their friends front garden if they wanted to get their bike out.

I just received a load of abuse back and he continued off down my drive.

AIBU to think this is cheeky as fuck and to ring the police if I see one person from there step foot on my property again when they shouldn't be?

Couple of ideas that may help:

Extend the fence? Or add a locked gate.

What about those timber storage things for wheelie bins? Can't be moved & might be a short term solution.

Stick a bollard in the middle of the access point. Add a lock to it that only you can unlock to drop & raise it as needed. Only issue with this is that future buyers may realise it was added because of an issue with next door.

I'd also be tempted to add a line of very fine broken glass that may or may not pierce tyres... But probably not advisable.

Back your car up right against your house in the interim and block any access across the drive from that passage?

@PlentyPlenty ah, your dad is a policeman!

Any chance he's local and could pop by in full uniform?! Would the neighbours recognise him??

Definitely get the gate, but this is a golden opportunity to have a bit of fun with it.

Motion sensitive water canon?? [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pestbye%C2%AE-Battery-Operated-Activated-Repellent/dp/B004YCUT4W/ref=sr_1_5?crid=21L08UGL8N2SD&dchild=1&keywords=motion+sensor+water+sprayer&qid=1618589466&sprefix=motion+sensor+water%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-5 Just turn it off before the postman (or DH) comes!]

OP if you have the time and inclination you can apply to the courts for an injunction requiring the neighbour to stop his friends from entering your land without permission. At the courts’ discretion they can also order the neighbour to pay you damages for the nuisance already caused. Why not take your husband along and see the neighbour, and tell him you are considering this - at least then you’ve given him the opportunity to stop this behaviour before you escalate things. Actions have consequences and he needs to know that he can’t just use your property as an extension of his own

On the question of using a deterrent such as tacks to puncture their tyres it’s important to know where you stand legally. It’s my understanding that a landowner does not have a duty of care towards a trespasser, so if you were to scatter tacks to puncture their tyres, they wouldn’t have a claim against you because they shouldn’t have been there in the first place. If you also have an injunction in place, this would reinforce this position.

Doesn't sound like YABU, apart from to say "step foot"...

Could you put one of those bin storage thing to go where the bins are to block it up
You could probably get it So that it’s anchored to the ground so they can’t move it and you will still have somewhere to put that bins
Failing that put a gate up

I'd get my deckchair out and sit with a book and a drink in their front garden.

I'd be slightly confused if they came out to complain and say Oh, I thought we just trespassed on each other's property without worrying. That's what you do on mine.

Do you know how people buy things to protect their car spaces? Metal things that can go into the ground when you need to drive your car in but otherwise stay upright so no other cars can get in? I would put one of those there behind your bins - and drop it on bin day to use yourself.

I would also put gates on the bottom of your driveway.

@ittakes2, like a bollard do you mean? Maybe one shaped like a bird?

You can buy signs as well . Private property . Trespassers will be prosecuted. Get a cheap camera system .

Are they using your drive to get to the shared passage because it’s paved and the neighbours have lawn/plants? No excuse I know.

I would have blocked it permanently before now. You’ve posted about this before haven’t you? I sympathise though, we don’t want to fall out with neighbours (or anyone), so put up with it over and over again, treating each time as a one off. It’s not, it’s an entrenched pattern, that’s why they won’t stop when you explain the distress it causes.

Just block it off

YANBU. They are cheeky fuckers.
But you have way more patience than me. I'd have had a gate up the second time they did this after I'd asked them once not to and they'd ignored me.
No way would I putting up with this at all.
Yes, the gate costs money and you feel that you shouldn't have to pay for a gate because they are unreasonable but not everyone is reasonable so act accordingly.
Assuming you have the money, get a gate organized ASAP and if you haven't got the money for it work out how much it is going to cost and save up or sell stuff you don't need.

cheaper than a gate would be a couple of chains & padlocks. It would make it impossible to get a bike through and hard to walk through.

I'd be putting up cctv too once your gate is sorted if you feel intimidated, especially if you're often home alone.

Didn't any of the suggestions on the last thread work? Because this seems to be just the same answers you got last time?

Gate it when you can.

I cannot believe their audacity! It’s is perfectly clear by having a fence that you’re separate properties. Insane!

No advice other than to definitely follow through with your gate I’m afraid. If they vault the fecking thing though, do just call 999.

Cancel the cheque...

@BeastOfBODMAS

I’d be out sprinkling handfuls of nails across my drive if someone was riding a motorbike up and down it. (With a big magnet on standby to get them back up again)

This.

Chains and paddocks would work

Or

A large plant pot - cheap - full 2/3 with concrete - £8 a bag plus some water

Add soil and plants.

Does nobody shout out their windows “OI! GET OFF MY FUCKING DRIVE!!!” anymore? I’d totally be lowering myself to their level.

If you can get away without using the passage between the houses I’d just fence it off not even bother with a gate . If money is really tight you can get temporary green fencing mesh to nail across - might be enough to get the message across

Didn't any of the suggestions on the last thread work? Because this seems to be just the same answers you got last time?

Is there a link to the other thread?

If they're teenagers or young adults, I'm assuming they are due the the motorbikes, how about one of those mosquito alarms that only teenagers/young adults can hear?

Added bonus of them not hanging round at all, let alone in your garden

I would get your husband to park round the corner and then when they do it again, he can come out!!