I was LEGALLY parked

[Readingtoaster]

Hello all. I would like to know what steps I can take here.

Small village with parking in front of houses. I park considerately and legally. No signs at all indicating I could not park and walked through the village to have lunch with my friends.
Came back 3 hours later to find I've been blocked in.

Knocked on the door in front of the space and she was extremely rude asking me if I can read - I later found a home made residents parking sign in the long grass next to the parking. She was abusive and threatened me with dogs and then asked me to leave.

The place we had lunch asked her to move also and she refused. We had to call the police.

She admitted she had done it before, the lunch place said she had done it before and so did passing dog walkers. The Police obviously couldn't say anything. They went into her house when they arrived (4 hours later as not an emergency) and came out of the house with her keys.

To say I am furious is an understatement. What legal steps can I take here against this person. The Police advised it would be difficult to prove harassment.

Could I get a freedom of information request from them and then somehow take it further and press charges?

Thank you all

I think as infuriating as the situation is, it's for the cafe to deal with rather than you. For you it's presumably a one off incident but it could impact on the cafe's business.
I'd just give your contact details to the cafe and let them know if they decide to take any action (if they've had multiple issues) that you will support them.

I would let it go and park elsewhere in future. That said, given that you know her address, I would pay some teenage boys to post a package of dog excrement through her letterbox.
Yes I know, utterly childish and should know better at my age, but would be very amusing 😄 😆

She'll have a reputation locally and if she carries on the police may well charge her with something like wasting police time or breach of the peace, etc. If you have to park there again, make sure you leave space to manoeuvre if she tries the same spiteful, small minded trick another time. And take a photo of your parked car to prove how you left it.

@Georgeskitchen utterly disgusting suggestion - hopefully you are all talk.

Not your circus, not your monkeys. There isn't a law against being an unpleasant, selfish and stupid individual. She was in the wrong but you can't take responsibility for holding everyone who is wrong and selfish and stupid to account. Let it go.

She was very unreasonable and the police have clearly "Had A Word" with her and explained that the road outside her house does not belong to her and she has no right to inconvenience or abuse people who are legally parked there. If she doesn't change her mind and continues to behave like this, then the place you went to lunch may eventually have a case against her, or the police might take it more seriously if they keep having to send officers to deal with her evey time she does it, but you as an individual can't take any action against her.

You can leave your contact details with the place you went for lunch and tell them that if they end up making a legal claim against her you will be willing to testify in court about your experiences. If they don't want to do that then it's none of your business.

A one off doesn't constitute harassment and that's the only thing you can complain about. The police would have looked at obstructing the highway, and decided it wasn't possible.

I’ve got some sympathy with her. Imagine you’ve lived in your village for years, parking can be a bit tricky because the houses were all built before people had cars, but it’s a quiet village so you can usually get a space on the road. Then some incomers open a cafe and now their customers are parked all over the village and you can never get a parking space any more. You’d be pissed off, wouldn’t you?

If it was me, I’d buy a super cheap road legal old banger. Park it there every day for two weeks. Call the police every time she does it. I’d go for lunch at the cafe every single day for two weeks and work there if they have wifi. I’d devote two weeks to deliberately going out of my way to make the point. It will cost a lot less than pursuing any legal claim. If she damages your car then you’ve got her.

That’s not amusing in the least. No one deserves that and I would hope anyone who did something that disgusting would actually be prosecuted by the police.

Yeah, that's not amusing, it's just disgusting.

@YouWhatLove fight fire with fire. I would get a few friends together park so she can't block you in then go for lunch. Do you know anyone with a old banger that can be left there a few weeks whilst they are on holiday.

Seriously? She blocked you in once so you'd run up the cost of buying, taxing and insuring a car and go and sit in a cafe for two weeks just to make a point? 🙄

@LetitiaLeghorn I can do as I please and yes I would. The OP has said this is not a one off, she’s a repeat offender and she is ruining the cafes business. The OP wants to pursue legal action to make her stop. Considering all of those circumstances and weighing up the cost of legal action then I would certainly pursue the course of action that I described. It’s quicker and cheaper than the OP pursuing a legal route. It also sends the message to the repeat offender that she needs to stop her actions.

It was actually meant as a joke

I bet your a barrel of laughs at parties

@blueagain I wasn't saying you couldn't do it, just questioning if you really would do it. I still find it hard to believe you'd go to that sort of trouble, but if you say you would, I guess I have to believe you.

You can't use a Freedom of Information request to get data about an identifiable individual. If the police told you how many times she has done this, it would be a breach of GDPR. In any event, as others say, there is little you can do. You may be able to make a claim against her for nuisance in that she is interfering with your use and enjoyment of your property, but it is unlikely to be worth it.

It’s infuriating but nothing you can do so move on. It might be worth asking the cafe if they’d like you to document what happened though, in case they can do anything in future.

@KangarooKenny

They weren’t deliberately blocking her in, there’s no dropped kerb so they parked there. They didn’t anticipate that a woman and a car would appear

If she was blocked in they must have known what they were doing, because the car would have been there?

I cannot stand pettiness over parking rights, some people really do need to grow up. I used to live on fairly main road with no driveways and my neighbour few doors down used to put cones out to stop people parking in front of his house, we all said that he had no right to do that as he does not own public highway but he wouldn’t have it. We all reported it to the council & was told to remove them, whatever they threatened him with worked as he never did it again.

thats what is always advised on posts here, when people park badly or inconsiderately

(Obviously thats not what happened here as you were parked legally)

you being trapped for 4 hours is incredibly annoying. Absolutely.

But you are free now. Let the police worry about her. If they’re being repeatedly called out because of her behaviour, they will do something about it. They know what they are doing. And they are busy so they do care about things that waste their time

Same with the cafe. Them losing business is their issue. I sincerely doubt that one woman being a dick about the parking space outside her house is having a huge impact on things.

Just don’t park there again. Yes, I realise that means she gets what she wants. But it does mean you don’t spend 4 hours waiting to get your car out. On balance, that would be my priority.

If the restaurant is losing business because of her then its for them to deal with. Their solicitors may well be able to construct a case against her for costs.

Same happens in the place that I live. Local guy insists he owns the lay-by in front of his house (he doesn’t) and harangues anyone who parks there. Same pissy little homemade sign. Locals won’t challenge him cos he’s a nasty fucker. Pub patrons, school run people and tourists all get it from him.

The police, however, are now so sick of him that they are taking a keen interest, they seem to be there every month. As a direct result of his arseholery he has lost his drivers license.

It might be worth you leaving your contact details with the officers who dealt with your situation in case they find a pattern and wish to address the issue.

It’s amazing how often that nasty little sign gets ‘accidentally’ knocked down by locals driving large vehicles!

It's infuriating but the price probably have better things to do, which is why she keeps doing it.

But yes, if you know anyone with an old wreck that is taxed and can be towed and left outside her house for a few months, that is probably your best bet.

I plan to call them just to triple check I didnt miss any signs but I am pretty sure I didnt.