Neighbour seems to think he has the right to jump our fence

[Twatforaneighbour]

We moved in about 3 years ago and put up a fence on top of an existing low height wall (which we own) across the front of our front garden which has a footpath the other side. We got planning to do this.

One of our neighbours had an issue with this, because his adult son (early 20s) liked to walk across our front garden and hop over our wall to save him from walking around. He put in a complaint when we went for planning saying that if the fence went up, we would need to make it safe as his son would be climbing over! The council made no comment on this.

This has made it inconvenient for him as it adds 5 mins walking time to walk down the road and up the public footpath. Since the fence went up, we clarified with the neighbour (the dad) that this was our property and our fence/wall, to make 100% sure there was no misunderstanding with who owns what, which he agreed.

We have now got video from our ring doorbell of "someone" walking across our garden and jumping the fence. It is unlikely to be anyone else as we are at the end if a small road.

What would you do? Trespassing is not a criminal offence. So far we cannot for sure identify the person as it was at night and not a great image.

They obviously see no issue with doing it so speaking to them wont help, Considered anti climb spikes but have seen you can be liable if trespasser gets injured on your property.
WIBU to get spikes if I put a warning with it?
Any suggestions? If he keeps doing it, it will end in damage to the fence and probably us paying for it

If it's ASD, explain why you don't want them doing it and they should stop. Otherwise I recommend manure or raspberry bushes.

One house near me has a "trespassers will be shot" sign lol. Also could try a bigger fence and bushes too.

Can’t see why he doesn’t jump over his own fence and not yours?

A spiked pyracantha sounds a good idea but it's not very pretty and grows like wildfire. I would plant climbing roses along the length of the fence. I've just been looking and there are some gorgeous colours available and I think within a couple of years the fence could be a riot of colour from late spring to late autum . We have roses still flowering now !
The thorns would be an anti-climbing bonus .

@Wills

This sounds like autism. That’s not to say its forgivable, more that you’re not dealing with ‘neurotypicals’ and so need to consider their perspective and having done that come at it from an angle that ensure’s you defeat their perspective. I have 3 kids on the spectrum and 1 that has learnt too much from the others. So I’m not trying to say their behaviour is acceptable - it isn’t, but unless you wish to go down the route of police (and they wont be keen to get involved) then you need to try and understand their perspective and change their behaviour based on that knowledge. I wholeheartedly agree with whoever suggested v. Spikey bushes. You’re not dealing with neuro-typicals! So you’re going to have to think a) outside the box and b) deal with inconveniences such as growing spikey bushes or putting up signs with anti-vandal paint. Etc. You may not feel this is right, and I kinda get this, but they have just as much right to a life as you do - however to persuade them not to walk across your garden you’ll need to go to greater lengths than if you were dealing with a typical person.

To those who feel I’ve been anti non-neurotypicals trust me I’m not, but having 3 of them (and I probably have a brother who isn’t and defo my husband and at least 2 of his brothers) I’m learning that they have a massive amount to contribute to society, but when they’re in a pattern that they don’t believe they should change they’re bloody stubborn and hard work. So whilst I feel for the OP, simply getting a lot of sympathy on here isn’t going to change their behaviour. She needs to look at how to change their behaviour and understand that the son is not likely to be neurotypical. Armed with that info she needs to see that simply telling father/son that they’re being unreasonable wont actually change their behaviour. Good luck op and if you’d like further advice PM me. But be assured I’m bowled over by my incredible ASD kids and what they can give. The father is at fault - but, who knows, he could be ASD too. Good luck.x

Literally what about a grown man taking a shortcut because it’s convenient for him sounds like autism? Absolutely nothing. Some people are just fucking entitled arseholes, and it honestly just makes people think that those with autism are all dickheads when this is trotted out every time someone is being one.

Plant Berberis Firethorn (it has very long viciously sharp thorns) and it is perfectly legal to plant it, if someone gets injured trying to climb over it, it is their problem.

Before you do anything I would check if you have legal cover with your home insurance. Cgeck with them so you know what you can do legally before it comes back to bite you. He sounds like the kind of arse who would sue.

I too like the mature ditch btw'

You may not feel this is right, and I kinda get this, but they have just as much right to a life as you do
Jesus @Wills, what part of OP's post implies that she doesn't think the fence hopper has a right to a life?!

Maybe smear some fatty seedy mixture on the top of the fence - bird food.
Great for the birds and not great having greasy hands.

@winnieanddaisy

A spiked pyracantha sounds a good idea but it's not very pretty and grows like wildfire. I would plant climbing roses along the length of the fence. I've just been looking and there are some gorgeous colours available and I think within a couple of years the fence could be a riot of colour from late spring to late autum . We have roses still flowering now ! The thorns would be an anti-climbing bonus .

pyracantha are lovely.

nice scented flowers and pretty berries. good for wildlife too.

they are easy to keep in check (with gloves) and can be sculpted like other hedge plants.

Does it really matter at the end of the day, it wouldn't bother me if the guy was taking a short cut , it's not as if he's setting up a picnic or tent.

I would plant a few Rosa rugosa bushes there if that was me. Beautifully scented flowers and good luck to anyone foolish enough to climb through them.

You may not feel this is right, and I kinda get this, but they have just as much right to a life as you do

What an idiotic comment 😂 So we should just let people get on with whatever they want to do, however wrong, because they have a right to life 😂

This is police advice - see website Ask The Police

"Using other methods of crime prevention such as trellis fencing and defensible planting is often more effective and pleasant to look at.
Trellis fencing is effective because it increases the height of the boundary and it is not usually strong enough to hold an intruder's weight Therefore, they may not want to risk climbing over it, breaking it and making a loud noise.
Prickly plants such as Hawthorne, Poncira, Pyracantha (rapid growth), Rosa Rugosa, or any kind of Berberis are an effective obstacle against possible intruders and much more pleasant to look at.
Whatever method you use, it is important to ensure that you have planning permission, if required, and you do not leave yourself open to civil proceedings."

www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q78.htm

I see the MN doctor is in the house 😀

Entitled little prick jumping the neighbour’s wall instead of their own father’s.
He must have autism 😂😂😂

Autism seems to be the get out of jail card a lot on here.

Is there a reason why he's not using his own fence? I would go for trellis, roses and sprinklers. Are the neighbours ok apart from this?

I poured vegetable oil on a wall & fence when I had a similar problem. Stopped the problem overnight.

@Wills

This sounds like autism. That’s not to say its forgivable, more that you’re not dealing with ‘neurotypicals’ and so need to consider their perspective and having done that come at it from an angle that ensure’s you defeat their perspective. I have 3 kids on the spectrum and 1 that has learnt too much from the others. So I’m not trying to say their behaviour is acceptable - it isn’t, but unless you wish to go down the route of police (and they wont be keen to get involved) then you need to try and understand their perspective and change their behaviour based on that knowledge. I wholeheartedly agree with whoever suggested v. Spikey bushes. You’re not dealing with neuro-typicals! So you’re going to have to think a) outside the box and b) deal with inconveniences such as growing spikey bushes or putting up signs with anti-vandal paint. Etc. You may not feel this is right, and I kinda get this, but they have just as much right to a life as you do - however to persuade them not to walk across your garden you’ll need to go to greater lengths than if you were dealing with a typical person.

To those who feel I’ve been anti non-neurotypicals trust me I’m not, but having 3 of them (and I probably have a brother who isn’t and defo my husband and at least 2 of his brothers) I’m learning that they have a massive amount to contribute to society, but when they’re in a pattern that they don’t believe they should change they’re bloody stubborn and hard work. So whilst I feel for the OP, simply getting a lot of sympathy on here isn’t going to change their behaviour. She needs to look at how to change their behaviour and understand that the son is not likely to be neurotypical. Armed with that info she needs to see that simply telling father/son that they’re being unreasonable wont actually change their behaviour. Good luck op and if you’d like further advice PM me. But be assured I’m bowled over by my incredible ASD kids and what they can give. The father is at fault - but, who knows, he could be ASD too. Good luck.x

Awful lot of words that say precisely nothing useful.

Could a birdhouse be mounted in the place he hope over?

What's anti-climb paint?

OP if he is using the wall to then climb over the fence do you have room to put something on the wall?

What's anti-climb paint?

it's basically paint (usually black) that never dries leaving the surface slippery. plus it permanently stains clothing.

@Cattenberg

I was on your side until I read that it takes the neighbour an extra five minutes to walk round. That adds up to a lot of wasted time. I’m not surprised he jumps the fence when he thinks you’re not looking.

It still doesn't give anyone the right to cut across a neighbours property though;it's not a public right of way and the neighbour is a CF.

One time shout out loud what the f are you doing should sort it if not I like the marmite on top of fence 😂😂😂😂

I would:

1. Get plenty of manure and make sure that there's a 1m wide strip at the bottom of the wall on your garden side to make getting onto or off the wall decidedly messy.

1. Get some cheap shelf brackets and put them at the top of the fence and run wire on the outside edge (ie further into your own garden) - this suddenly makes your fence much more difficult to climb from both sides - because it's going to be a lot wider and less easy to get over from the wall step-up point. If you can find some brambles or rose stems to weave around this wire, so much the better.

1. Get an automatic sprinkler system sorted - you should be able to run this from a hose extension - and this is going to be a lot less expensive than buying a new fence.

1. Dismiss all ideas of this being a result of autism... from my experience, people with autism are much more likely to be law abiding than NT people! That's not to say this might be a factor - but that it's less likely than, say, someone being a lazy sod that doesn't care about being neighbourly or the fact that they're trespassing!

Thkng is, OP, that if he can do it, other people can. And will.

You really don't want people climbing over at night, looking for more than a 'short cut'.

in the interests of safety and security you really should be looking at some of these suggestions seriously. Police advise prickly bushes, anti-climb paint, wires etc for your own safety.

I'd never buy a house next to a public footpath.