Bouncy castle in the street

[daphnedoo12]

Hi,

I live in a street that is blocked off half way by bollards, it has a widening to allow cars to turn around. We do not have front gardens, it's terraced housing.

We park our cars directly outside of our house.

Neighbour (many, many issues with this neighbour) has now set up a huge bouncy castle in the middle of the road.

I can just about turn my car around to get out of the street, although with great difficulty and also with the risk of hitting a child as there is now about 15 of them in the middle of the road.

Anyone parked further up would struggle to actually get their car out.

Is this even legal? We have decent sized yards?? I don't understand why it needs to be in the middle of an actual road. It's so dangerous!

I sound like a party pooper, I have a DS and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing this, no adults are constantly with the children, they're in/out their houses and it's just so worrying.

Am I just a party pooper or am I right to be concerned about this?

Neighbour 4 doors up has kicked off threatening to ring the police. Neighbours who have the bouncy castle just shouted obscenities at him.

I spoke to the guy who couldn't get his car out this morning, he ended up walking around the corner and getting a taxi back and forth. He's putting a complaint in to the council on Monday. He told me it's the 5th complaint he's made but nothing gets done, he said multiple neighbours feel the same

Are you and the other neighbours putting in complaints too? If the council get multiple complaints that might start to make the difference but if its just one complaining it wont have the same effect.

@daphnedoo12 actually sounded like the police were having fun laughing and joking.

Sadly, that can sometimes be the norm with police. I was a Special constable for a few years back in the late 80s/early 90s. It made me sick how some of the regulars would chat to known local criminals like they were besties, yet wouldn't give the time of day to "normal" people trying to report low level crimes/nuisance. If someone walked up to them to try to report, say, a stolen bike, they'd lie and say they were en-route to an emergency and to phone it through, yet round the corner, they'd spot a known shoplifter or burglar and go and chat football with them. Not good at all. It was as if it was all a game to some of them.

Jesus my eyes! @AddressLabel

OP if your neighbours resemble this photo you have my sympathies.

Totally CF's to block the road and as others have mentioned dangerous to not have a bouncy castle tethered properly.

Job for the Police - I would not entertain getting into argument with this neighbour - this is wrong and should not be there full stop.

Is this the sort of confrontational arsehole neighbour who’d just relish anyone saying something to them? You know the type.

God how awful. For you and for those children. I'm always baffled why people like this have children in the first place. confused

Probably the aforementioned alcohol might play a large part in the immaculate conception, plus a flat surface

@daphnedoo12

Police came at 7pm. They told them to remove it assume as the bouncy castle company was there within 20 mins.

Music was told to be turned off, actually sounded like the police were having fun laughing and joking.

I spoke to the guy who couldn't get his car out this morning, he ended up walking around the corner and getting a taxi back and forth. He's putting a complaint in to the council on Monday. He told me it's the 5th complaint he's made but nothing gets done, he said multiple neighbours feel the same

I am very much surprised that the police took this long to come out and would be livid. Personally I would be putting in a complaint. Surely a road being blocked is a danger to emergency services getting through. I would put in a complaint to police and also the police crime commissioner about this. It may not have been an emergency then but what if. I know police are understaffed but there will have been someone. Perhaps the call handler didn't understand the seriousness of it , but they need to understand for future

Unbelievable!

Totally ridiculous is took so long to get a response to the idiotic blocking of a road.

Not read all replies but beyond CFers and getting more and more common (parson the pun).

When we had a street party, we had to apply to the council to close the road, and pay for it. Also had to get public liability insurance.

O would be concerned about safety and if it was ‘held down’ safely

Things like this, Ring the police straight away for the safety of children

We have a street party every year and we have to apply to the council and get 75% minimum households to agree. I go around with a clipboard and get signatures. Then sort out public liabilty insurance.
Because we are a nice street we don't erect anything to actually block the road, incase of emergency access.

If bouncy castles aren’t properly maintained and supervised it is very easy for a child to get hurt or killed.

I remember this case from 2018: news.sky.com/story/child-killed-after-thrown-from-bouncy-castle-in-norfolk-11422856

As we speak it's a barbecue in the street

This just came up on a friends newsfeed as a joke, but the photo is obviously genuine

@Whammyyammy

This just came up on a friends newsfeed as a joke, but the photo is obviously genuine

Are those legs and feet dangling from the window?

When you decide to move OP make sure your do it in the winter.

Stupid question; but have you actually spoken to your neighbours about this? The ones that are upsetting you?

SpeakingFranglais, I think so, zoomed but never noticed 🤣🤣

Call the police ASAP - these are dangerous, but also what if an energy vehicle - firetruck or ambulance - needed to get to a house in that street - outrageous behaviour in a public road

Off subject.

How big are your terraced houses if you can fit a bouncy castle in your yard??

@GreenFingersWouldBeHandy we've tried, she is incredibly aggressive. We asked her to turn her music down during a party she threw in the middle of the first pandemic, around 4am she threw used nappies into our yard as a response.

Im heavily pregnant, I'm not approaching her. We've had the police involved many times, nothing seems to get done.

She's trashed her house to the point where the landlord has been out in tears, I approached the landlord and she said she's been trying to get her evicted for 2 years but apparently it's up to the council. I have no idea how or why, but she literally gets away with the most shocking things

First lockdown, not first pandemic*