Dealing with neighbours inconsiderate parking

[Tooshyshy123]

One particular neighbour keeps parking on the small footpath which runs down the side of our house. In fact he parks on it so fully there have been times we cannot get out of our gate and have had to clamber over our wall to get out. We did speak to him but he still continues to do it even though there's loads of space further down and there's no reason to park on the path.
Anyway we are thinking of putting some planters on the path outside our gate, possibly right on the edge of the pavement close to the road. Obviously this will stop him parking on the path but will we get into trouble? There will still be room to walk down the path though in an estate of only 6 houses, we are pretty muchnthe only ones who uses it.
Already tried speaking to council who refused to consider dropped kerbs, yellow lines etc

If you can’t get out of your gate, ring the non emergency police number, hopefully they’ll come out and have a word.
If that doesn’t work drop some nails near his tyres

I completely see why you would be annoyed but if you put planters, I think you will wind him up more and possibly end up with smashed planters. We are in a similar situation here but flipped, my neighbour has put planters on the pavement (public highway) next to their garden wall and back gate/my DESIGNATED parking space, making it difficult for myself and children to get in and out the car. He also puts his bikes further down the wall next to my other neighbours parking space so they struggle to get in their car door (used to do this to us too). He clearly doesn’t like the fact that our parking spaces are so close to the side of his house, but there is a small pavement which neither of us ever park over. Its a new build estate so he would have seen plans before buying his house.

From your comments, If there is no yellow lines/dropped curb then has every right to park in front of your house, but NOT on the pavement, unless signs say this is permitted (it is in my neighbourhood for some roads but there is always a sign). You need to keep contacting the council with pictures and they will likely send a letter to the culprit if you can identify them. I would concentrate on the fact that the pavement is needed for access, i.e. imagine if you had a disabled friend come to stay in their wheelchair!

Don’t expect anything to happen over night though. We complained before when we couldn’t get in our car door due to the bikes, their advice? Climb over the passenger side! I pay weekly for my parking spot to the council so once I reiterated this to them they finally started to listen to me but tbh I gave up when they started putting the bikes next to my neighbours car instead 🤣

You are just as bad as your neighbour if you put plant pots on the public highway though so I don’t think this is a resolution.

I'd block it off so he can't park there and wouldn't give it a second thought. I would probably get a couple of those large painted stones that aren't easily moveable, and then innocently deny all knowledge if he asked about them. You don't need to worry about upsetting him, he doesn't give a toss about upsetting you!

Is it a large car, would it involve difficult manoeuvres to park anywhere else? Is he coming back late at night and could be drinking and driving?

If you contact the police as one person has suggested, mention you think he might have poor eyesight or a medical condition.

Advice to change your gate to swing outwards seems ill thought out - it will make it harder to get out when the car is close but not right up against your access. Not to mention, it’s just obnoxious to have your gate swing into the public path.

Scratching his car deliberately would be a crime, and doing it accidentally when you squeeze through would still be your fault and responsibility to fix. While you might well get away with it, you might not and it holds the possibility of escalating the situation, so I’d probably avoid.

If it is blocking your only access to your home, I agree with calling the police each time and reporting it. Ideally as soon as he’s parked there so you aren’t stuck in when you actually want to get out. Police have the power to get cars towed if it’s causing an obstruction, though they would probably knock on his door and tell him to move it. Also, if you have a community police officer assigned to your area (I know a lot of forces don’t really do this anymore), talking with them about it might get you a solution. Talking with your councillor, if they’re any good, may also nudge authorities into action.

What a dickhead. I'd put some rocks there painted white. But don't paint them till he's driven over them.

I'd put the plant pots on either side of your gate. Let him be the one complaining that he can't park in front of your gate so you can't get out any more. See where that gets him.

Not true, my local councillor is helping me with an issue. He just messaged yesterday to see if it was resolved.

Sigh, I misread MP for councillor sorry

Just stick a note on his car side window with Vaseline. It’s very annoying to remove.

Forget planters. Instead of tyre-shredding spikes on the wheel hub, have ones that pop out of the gate posts.

https://wwwcinemastyle.blogspot.com/2011/07/for-love-of-aston-martin.html

For your gate posts.

Call your local fire station.
Ask for a home visit to discuss fire safety.

They will have something to say about him restricting your access in case of emergency eg a stretcher was needed or firefighting equipment.

Scratch his car

I would absolutely be banging my gate into his car every single time he blocks you in. Also call to have him towed because you can’t get out of your house/garden without climbing over a wall. Sod upsetting him

Absolutely not. How would a wheelchair user get past?

This is what I would do. And climb over his car.

Have you got a sign up on your gate?

I'd do that AND I'd put planters/sink posts in the verge - he can't park there, you need the access. Fuck him and his ignorence

Really?

I noticed today a road where on the verge there were spikes in the grass, about 6 - 8 inches high. Just perfect to really make a mess of the underside of a car. In front of about 10 properties in a row.

Wonder who put those there???

@florasl
It's 101 that you call for non emergency policy response.

Wheelie bins. Put them long ways. I've done the same and it works. Couldn't care less if anyone complains to council. I've 3 disabled children. Was actually hilarious then when the neighbour started curving round them and parking as close as possible 🤣 like practically on the road with barely enough room for themselves to get in or out of their car 🤣 just to try to annoy me. Always got along for years and no fallout...when they have their own drive...although they stopped that, prob realised what an ass they were 🤣 If that didn't work I was going to park on their drive and still will if I need to but so far so good 😆 hope you get this sorted it's very irritating.

Bash the gate into the car every time you open it, they’ll get the message!

We have several knobs on our estate (both men and women) and they target both men and women - they simply don’t care who they inconvenience / upset