Bike outside house

[UnicornUnicornGolf]

I am not sure if I’m being overly fussy or not! We live in a small narrow news street with a small pavement. Someone has parked a big bike (with a sort of wagon attached to it to put children in) right outside our house on a lamp post. Meaning my small buggy won’t fit on the pavement to go out! Our door goes onto the pavement if that makes sense, so no driveway

AIBU to write them a polite note asking them to move it? I don’t own the land outside my home of course so is that unreasonable?

No that's perfectly reasonable.

Yanbu. They shouldn't be blocking the pavement for buggies or wheelchairs. 100% leave a note.

The pavement is considered the public highway, so people shouldn't be blocking it. For example, I once received a letter from the council telling me to cut my hedge because it was growing out of control blocking the pavement.

So, if this bicycle is blocking the pavement then it's not unreasonable to ask for it to be moved.

Thank you! I wasn’t sure if I was being petty. The note simply says I don’t mean to be rude but as you can see this street is narrow - and people living here have mobility issues and buggies so please can they move the bike so we can get to our houses!

I think notes are rarely a helpful way to go, but I'd try and catch them when they come back and point out that it's in the way.

I’ve been trying but no one has come back yet! Maybe soon as it’s used for children it’ll be used to pick them up and I can have a word!

Could they park in the road?

No there are cars parked there.

Could a car move?

Easily! But the bikes been there all day and the owner hasn’t returned!

I called the council who said there’s nothing they can do as it isn’t an abandoned bike and to use another route out!!!

Seeing as you're in touch with the council already ask if there's a possibility of converting a parking bay into a bike rack.

Then give the bike a hard time if they don't use it

In the meantime though a note will probably be a good start, if there's a more suitable lamp post they'll probably use it

Normally councils come and remove bikes after a minimum of month but normally it's anything from 3-6 months if a wheel and/or seat is missing.

They leave a sign on it stating it will be removed after a certain date giving the owner at least 14 days notice of removal.

(Yes there are a couple of hints in my post if you are desperate but someone else may deal with it for you.)

Its only been there for a day so I can’t go down that route!

It’s still there and I’ve put my note on and am angry that it’s still there 😵‍💫

How is it secured, is it a chain or something that looks like it could be broken with bolt cutters? It would be legal to cut the chain in order to move the bike if it is preventing you from accessing your property/causing an obstruction to the highway.

How’s it attached to the lamp post. Can you swivel it around so it’s in the road?

There’s a car (not mine) parked on the road so nowhere to swizzle it round to

Is the wagon bit attached by chain to the lamppost or could it be removed from the bike?

It could be removed but is that legal?! I thought it would have gone by now. But been there since 8.

Hi! I have a huge bike for them my kids and used to have a huge stroller for them. I’m sure the cyclist is the same. I think it’s annoying they haven’t been back to move it yet; but most likely they are decent people who will feel bad and just didn’t pay attention while trying to get kids managed etc. I did block a pavement once (just 5 min picking up a prescription though) and got told off and felt horrible and never did it again.

is there any way to lift your buggy or go in the street to get around? I hope you aren’t trapped all day.

If you aren't stealing it and just moving it so you can get post then put it back, i can't see why that would be illegal.

It's probably parked in the street they live in like the cars in the road no?

It'll move tomorrow for the school run most likely

And don't go vandalising their bike or cutting the chain, that's really bad advice 👍🏻