To want the car to move!

[honeyandbutterontoast]

Looking for honest opinions here because I’m aware this may make me seem like an AH.

I live in a road where the majority of houses don’t have drives. We park on the road. I knew that when I bought the house, it’s not permit parking but there is usually space for two small cars in front of my house. It has never been a problem in the time I’ve lived here, occasionally if there’s a local event I’ve had to park up the road for a few hours if I’ve been out, or for an evening.

Four weeks ago I came home from work to find a big car taking up both spaces outside. So I parked elsewhere. The car is still there.

Nobody has been to it, or moved it in that time and frankly I’m getting annoyed. I have to now park a long way from my house (else I’m in someone else’s space), which has been annoying with heavy bags of food shopping, or if I’m going out with the dog/DC. It’s meant if my mum has visited she’s also had to park elsewhere, again not ideal.

But what can I do? No point leaving a note as nobody has been to the car in that time (it’s right outside my window so I would see). None of the neighbours know who it belongs to either. It seems a stupid thing to get stressed about but I just want to be able to park outside my house!

Dump a box of eggs on it. Cracked and smashed. If no one is "keeping an eye on it" the eggs will remain, if someone is keeping an eye, then they will appear, and your wrath can be spilled!

Yes, vandalise a perfectly legally parked car. It won't be too difficult for the owner to work out who did it, then retaliate. Remember they know where you live and not you them, if you chose this game to play.

Only the police can determine that. You can report a car as suspected as having been abandoned if it hasn’t been moved for 28 days or more. The police will then investigate and remove it if necessary.

And that would be absolutely fine, because I’d probably be thinking to myself “that’s the car from number 22 or wherever” which would be super helpful on the occasions where an ambulance/fire truck/delivery can’t get down the road and needs people to move. Because that happens every couple of months here.

Just take a minute to imagine the absolute pandemonium that would unfold if any person could get someone else's vehicle towed by the council just by claiming that it hadn't moved in four weeks.

The original link that you posted said that a vehicle not moving for four weeks is a sign that the vehicle might be abandoned and therefore the council might investigate to see if it meets the council's criteria for abandonment. It does not say that a vehicle not moving for four weeks is sufficient to meet the criteria.

As a minimum the council would need to continue to observe the vehicle over a longer period of time to see if it stays stationary - they can't just act on the say so of a curtain twitcher.

I really don't think any council would try to argue in court that a vehicle not moving for a few weeks amounts to a significant time. Nor indeed explain why it hadn't made reasonable efforts to contact the owner.

Also these are organisations that can barely manage bin collections so I really would ascribe preternatural efficiency when it comes to towing abandoned vehicles.

From your own link:

• It’s stationary for a significant amount of time (over 4 weeks). If the vehicle is legally parked and roadworthy we will take no further action

What a good idea. Vandalise a car that’s parked directly outside your own home.

From the 1st link, second paragraph:

"We won't intervene in residential disputes about vehicles outside your property, or if you simply do not like a particular vehicle in the street where you live"

They simply don't tow vehicles after 4 weeks of not moving. They might check it out but will conclude that it's not abandoned. Just a busybody wasting everyone's time.

We had this at work OP, we have access to a shared lane up to our workshop premises doors off a road and someone had parked a huge car slightly over the lane which meant we couldn't get our large delivery van in and out. For weeks. We reported to Police, Highways, Council... no one was interested as it was taxed/Mot'ed. In the end, I put it on a local FB page and said that it was going to get damaged if left there any longer as it was in a blind spot for our driver who was still learning to drive a LWB vehicle.

Was gone by the next morning.

Is there a park in your town OP? Perhaps you could claim that as your own personal green space and ask other residents not to use it!

And the other links?

But you believe what you like. I'm not the one who'll get towed, I know several who have.

Using butter to stick a note on the car is not vandalising. The butter will come off, but might take an hour or so. Not permanent, which is why I suggested this rather than popping the tyres……

Nothing you can do anyone has the right to park there and if its taxed mot'd doing nothing wrong. I regularly have to park about 6 houses along from my own most homes on our street don't have drives and there are several properties with 2/3 cars. Everyone just parks where they can park!

Love this!!!!

You clearly do have a need for a driveway lol
Pay for a drop kerb then you have space for your car.

But they do. I work for a council, we absolutely do.

This kind of thing is not a good idea, the op does not know if the vehicle belongs to a neighbour or relative of a neighbour etc.

Yes this is annoying for her, but op has no idea of the circumstances of why the vehicle is there and could upset her neighbours - not smart at all.

Is the car badly parked so that an ambulance or fire truck can’t get down the road? If so then contact the police so they can move it, cats absolute shouldn’t be blocking the road so that they can’t get down that’s so dangerous.

call the police it could have been stolen and dumped

Have you been sniffing glue.

People are showing you you are incorrect based on the links YOU have provided yet you are adamant you are still right.

You still get inconsiderate people parking across driveways. Try living near a school. Dropped kerb? Great for parents to mount the kerb without potentially damaging the tyres of their four by fours. Blocking someone from getting on and off their drives? Oh, they’ll only be five minutes whilst dropping little Albert off….

You might like to park outside your own house, who wouldn’t? However, this you will just have to tolerate. Much easier to not let something so trivial annoy you.

We had this.

Once some little tinker had let the tyres down, it looked more abandoned and so it got lifted away by the council contractor.