To of told kid of for coming onto my driveway & touching my property

[shazzaaaa]

I have had numerous issues with kids trespassing on my driveway, leaving bikes in there, running past my living room window etc.

One of the kids is about 10, he will always run across my living room window to when he is going from my neighbours kids houses.
I let it go.

But today he actually touching my planters and getting snow of them, there was a group of kids with him.

I politely asked him them to get of my drive and he replied "why?".

Was I being mean by doing this?
I have young toddlers and the noise often wakes them up.

This is a housing estate and we are looking at move by summer as we ( and others ) have constant issues with kids causing damage and problems.

The PCSO has already been down ( for footballs getting kicked at cars and smashing windows).

YANBU sadly it sounds like the child’s parents have failed in teaching him to respect other people’s property

I sort of think it depends where your planters are... if they adjacent to the pavement then YAB a bit mean. If you have a 100 foot drive with turning circle then I can understand it?

Although generally I like seeing children playing so it wouldn't bother me.

No the planters are outside my window on my driveway and it's a small drive.
I had to fork out on planters to stop them going across from one neighbours house to another.

There is a kids park 30 seconds away so I don't know why they feel the need to trespass onto other people's property causing a nuisance waking my kids up every time.

Yanbu, and at ten, he’s not been raised right if he’s acting his this.

You're not unreasonable, but be prepared for kids parents snubbing you, I've told kids off for playing on and around our drive, because they were squeezing past cars, I'd got visions of zips /buttons scratching paintwork, so I told them to go and play somewhere else, got the nose in the air off one of the kids mums for the remainder of them living here. Our drives are separate to the house so couldn't fence them otherwise I would have.

I would not have an issue with this myself.

Going across a private driveway isn’t usually trespassing imho as there is a public right of way to cross a driveway when going from point A to B.

You put the planters on your drive in what seems to be an attempt to block a public right of way.

The 10yr old is a member of the public.

I'd love to see the evidence to back that up.

You’re not being unreasonable but I wouldn’t be surprise if their parents come round and have a go at you. We had it in our first house, some woman in her dressing gown at the door, then threatened to get her husband round 😭😭. To do what? To scrap my husband? To scrap me?

Tell us you know nothing about the law without telling us you know nothing about the law.

SMH.

Exactly..

A public right of way? Are you sure about that?

Ask an easement solicitor, but I’m 99% sure that a home on a public road with a driveway has a public right of way for any member of the public to cross over it on foot when travelling to another property on that road.

This doesn’t include playing on a private driveway or leaving bikes, parking cars, this is purely the right to cross it on foot.

The parents just seem to leave their kids to play unsupervised, the kids are from 5 - 10 years old.

I do feel tension from the neighbours whose kids I have told to get of my driveway but considering we are moving we aren't bothered.

Half term and 6 week holidays are horrific down here, as it's been dark after school it's been quiet but next month as soon as it gets light again it will be how it was last year, a nightmare.

Is just how it is in new build estates?

So by that reasoning there's no point homeowners owning the external part of their property then, is there? Where is trespass in all of this?

@IrishSelkie
Sorry my house isn't on a public road, it's a small cul de sac of a main public road.

By all mean they can walk on the main public foot path as you pointed out but even the police who have been down have advised everyone that they should not be trespassing on residents private property i.e driveways.

Trespass isn't actually a criminal offence and it's classed as a civil matter but when it repeatedly occurs it can be deemed as harassment.
This is the advice given to everyone by the PCSO who patrols our area.

I’d need a drawing/map to have a better idea in case the one I am visualising based on the OP’s description is inaccurate.

This is nonsense.

So you & your neighbours pay to maintain the cul de sac or does the council?
It is then a shared private driveway?

No, this reasoning doesn’t erase trespassing.
Trespass would be going onto private land for which there is no public right of way or easement without the landowner’s permission.

I assume you told him he was trespassing and he can't just go on other people's property, he really may not know.

The part of the driveway that crosses the pavement is a public right of way (along the pavement) the rest of the driveway is private property.

I read it that the op has a driveway ( big enough to at least leave bikes laying around ) but the child is trespassing by crossing higher up the property right by the building - that would annoy me too to be honest
but I’d probably go down the route of asking the child to use the footpath rather than short cut by the windows as it disturbs the younger children
many kids are thoughtful after they’ve had a reason given

I have never heard of the public having a right of way across a persons front garden (drive way) as long as they are going to a property!

If that we're true, what if OP put a fence up? She'd then be blocking 'public access'. Sounds like nonsense.

Weirdly there is nothing the police can do about someone randomly parking on your drive. Or so I’ve heard? It’s a civil offence so possibly like this??? It’s strange.

I think I would have can issue with this purely because there’s no need for it and it’s your space. I think some kids like to be a bit territorial. About 20 years ago I caught the local teen climbing into my garden to get his ball. He was obsessed with getting in gardens and on driveways not to do anything other than be there. It was strange. I used to tell him straight and he’d apologise, then next week he’d be there again . Not sure what he got out of it.