Right of way on private shared drive

[Accessrights]

Any solicitors or police officers around to give some advice please?

Our house (in England) was built on a piece of land which can only be accessed over the original owner’s land. It was sold with a “right of way at all times and for all purposes” for both the purchaser and the vendor. Ownership of the land remained with the vendor. A single driveway was built and is used by both properties, and you reach their house first before driving to us.

New neighbours have bought the other house to renovate, starting with clearing the garden and they have blocked the drive with a grab truck and refused to move stating “they own the land”. We know they intend to build a large extension so are concerned this is only the start and we’ll be held up according to the whims of their builders.

So far, planning permission has not been sought so we can’t request conditions about how the drive is used - and even then, that would be limited use to me if I’m running late for an appointment and on a menopausal rage hair trigger and find they’ve blocked me in again. I don’t want to be prosecuted for breach of the peace 😳

What’s the best way to manage this?

Edit to add that it’s not an actual dropped kerb access but an opening on a main road if that makes a difference, and it’s not been adopted by the council.

Presumably the grab truck was just there for a short time to remove stuff? Could it have parked elsewhere to do the grabbing?
Regardless they shouldn't have refused to move with a 'we own the land' thrown in. The right of way/right of access needs to remain unobstructed to allow access.

I would suggest a friendly letter, phrased in more in sorrow then anger, reminding them that you have a right of way. Attach a copy of your title making this clear and ask them to respect your right of way.

Make clear that you don't want this to escalate and that if it does both sides will be caused problems but that you will not hesitate to enforce your rights.

In the meantime see if you can find a solicitor and get a price for a letter from them.

Your first approach is to remind them that, although it is their land, you have a right of way which they need to respect. If they continue to block the route, you can use any reasonable alternative path over their land. If there is no alternative route and all other approaches to get them to remove the obstruction fail, you will have to take them to court for an order requiring them to remove the obstruction.

look up your deeds on Land Registry. You can use it as proof of who owns what etc.

We have copies of all of the conveyancing deeds so we know exactly where the boundaries lie and what the obligations on both parties are, and we will have a conversation with the owner when they are next on site to ensure they are aware of the history - but we also know his history with a previous home so it may seem like a heavy handed approach to be looking at these options so early in the proceedings but more of a case of forewarned is forearmed.

The grab truck fully blocked the drive (with no alternative way around) for a couple of hours. I know from our own build about how often and how long trucks can be on site unloading, or pouring concrete so I don’t want a battle every time I need to go out. The neighbourly thing to do would be to highlight the need to park for a time and ask if anyone needed access but that didn’t happen.

So, it is a drive to allow access to both properties. No parking at all.
I know you should not have to go to these lengths but you may have to send a solicitors letter to them with the deed attached to make it abundantly clear what they can/cannot do. They have already made their intentions clear "they own the land" and think they can ride roughshod over what you say.
This very similar issue happened to a relative who had a shared driveway with next door. No parking allowed. That was accepted until the neighbour sold their house and unfortunately, the estate agent mis-sold the property with a 'private driveway' to the unsuspecting new owners. Years of nightmares ensued as the new owners refused to accept the driveway was shared access with the neighbouring property and continually blocked access by parking on it. The nightmare only ended when they moved away.

Hopefully🤞it won't take years to resolve but it does cause a worry after so many years of no problems at all.

Whilst I know we are legally right and we could go down a lengthy and expensive route via a solicitor, it's the short term, day to day engagement and disruption that's my biggest fear now. The houses are so far apart not to have impact in any way other than using the short bit of shared drive.