Sorry it's a long one. I'll start off by saying that due to mobility issues I do drive my children to school which is about 1.5 miles from our house. I do not however qualify for a blue badge.
There are several residential streets near the school where people park to take kids to the school. I imagine it is annoying for the people who live there but there are no restrictions on the road in terms of yellow lines etc and generally I'd say people are respectful of the residents. There are a couple of cars who park overhanging the yellow zigzags and some on bends but for the most part people park at the side of the road and don't block driveways. Dropped kerbs are marked with white lines so it is clear where it is ok to park.
I tend to park on the street one up from the school as usually it is quieter and there's more chance of getting a space. Until recently there was a house on the street that had fallen into disrepair with an overgrown front garden. Over the last couple of months there have been tradespeople coming and doing up the house and now the front garden has been paved over. About 2 weeks ago I parked in front of this house and a man came running out of the house opposite shouting at me that I couldn't park there as I was blocking a drive. I had my kids with me and told him I did not appreciate being shouted at in front of them especially as there was no dropped kerb so it wasn't a driveway. There wasn't a car parked on it either. He stormed off back into his house.
A few days later I saw the space was available and as it was raining there were a lot of extra cars on the school run so spots were at a premium. I parked there again and returned to a note on my car not to block driveways.
I don't park there every time as there are other spaces available often before I get to that spot but last week I was running late for pick up and noticed the space was free again - I was feeling a bit petty too by this point. However, there was a police officer speaking to drivers about their parking to ensure it was safe as it was near a school. I parked there and the police officer stopped me and said she'd had a complaint about people blocking the drive. I pointed out there was no dropped kerb and she immediately said, "Oh, you're absolutely right. Carry on."
This morning it was again the only available space but today there was a car on the drive and seemingly new residents. I parked up as usual to find the man from the house opposite screaming at me again in front of my kids that I was blocking the drive and now the new resident of the house coming out to join in. I tried to keep my cool but it is quite intimidating having 2 men shouting at you in public especially with young children. I said I needed to get the kids to school but they were misinformed if they thought it was a drive as it didn't have a dropped kerb and actually he was in the wrong for driving his car over the pedestrian footpath. Neither of them were listening though as they just kept shouting over the top of me.
When I came back to my car he had taken a photo of it and then a photo of me and told me he was reporting me to the police. I again tried to explain about the lack of dropped kerb and he flat out told me that was not true, that he had the right to create a driveway whereever he wanted and that actually parking on the street full stop (driveway or no driveway) was against the law and he should know because he is a lawyer. I told him he was speaking rubbish and to look on the council website as it is very clear.
Up to now I've parked in other spots if they have been available but AIBU to keep parking in front of this "drive" just to make a point because they have pissed me off?