I have a horrible steep driveway that I never use. Instead I park across its dropped kerb, therefore taking up no more space than if I parked on it. Opposite my house and my neighbour's, which both have drives, there is a row of 4 houses which have no drives, though the end two have garages behind them that are quite tricky to get to so they often park on 'my' side. Usually this is no problem as there's a house next to me on the corner that is side on and has its own drive round the corner, so along its side there is parking for about 4 cars before you get to my dropped kerb.
Nonetheless, sometimes I get home and someone is parked in 'my' space. Don't know who usually as I only know 2 of the cars opposite and 1 never parks in my space and the other does occasionally. So often I'm not sure who it is - may be nothing to do with the 4 houses or just a visitor. Next to my drive is my front garden along which 2 cars can park, so if the dropped kerb space is taken I go there - actually prefer it as slightly nearer my front door! I also park the other side of my dropped kerb, so not in front of my house, if I need to - if all 3 other places have gone. None of that is ever a problem and I'm at my dropped kerb about 80% of the time I'd say.
After those 2 spaces my neighbour's dropped kerb begins. It's a weird one as it's not a traditional vertical drive that goes down towards their house but instead it goes along the front so it's wider than it's long and not very deep. It has to be accessed sideways on. So because the dropped kerb is a lot longer than average, if there's nowhere else I park on the half of it nearest to my house, They have a sign in the window saying 'no parking' but I ignore that as it's not enforceable as far as I'm aware. Anyway, doing that has never caused a problem - though it's only an occasional thing anyway. As an additional complication they are often away and it's not unusual for days or even weeks to go by without me seeing their car at all.
Anyway, yesterday I got back from holiday and there were no spaces apart from one that was further down their dropped kerb than I would normally go. I went there because there was no other room and I didn't even know when they would be back. When I got in my car this morning there was a note asking me to move as 'it's a drive' - there was someone across my drive, which they must have seen, at that very moment, but that's just how it goes sometimes. I was also told they had to carry shopping down the street. Now they had parked in front of my house (a car had moved between me parking and them arriving) so they would have carried the shopping about 30 paces, which I quite often have to do.
WIBU to park there? I would only ever do it if no other option (I'm pretty sure I've done it before but moved before they got back), but should I leave their space empty when there is nowhere else? Surely it's first come first served in this situation?