People keep reporting us - a WWYD?!

[HorseWhisper]

have name changed for this. I have lived in London in a v small house for 17 years and know everyone on the street where I live and they all know my dcs. Everyone looks out for each other - there are a few nightmares, but nothing unusual. It's basically been a fantastic, peaceful existence.

I met dp 4 years ago and he has young dcs who live in a village in a rural area (around 2 hours away from here). It happens to have fast connections into London and I wanted to buy a house and we could get a lot for our money in this location. So we bought it, with the idea that we would move here around Easter and rent London out.

It is v rural but the previous owners went on about what a friendly small village it is. I was nervous moving here because I'm a city person at heart and was worried about 'village life'.

Obviously Covid got in the way of things and we've only just managed to move.

it is a beautiful house with a large plot (an acre of garden) and one side of the garden backs on to the gardens of a street (so say about 10 houses gardens back onto that side) but we have been here a week and

1. Had the police round within 2 days because someone reported us for breaking lockdown when we were moving in (this was after it was announced that we could move house)
2. Had the council round twice because 'someone' has been reporting we are damaging trees (the guy just came round again now!)
3. My children are in the garden today (they are 19/20) and I've just had the police drive past to ask if I am having a party in the garden because someone has reported us AGAIN.

What should we do? Should I just ignore this? Should we insist on finding out who is reporting us? I'm quite happy to speak to people directly, I just can't believe that people have so much time on their hands that they are doing this. I told the police I felt this was harassment. I have to say they did seem a bit fed up of the whole thing themselves but they couldn't tell us who reported us. I have given them my phone number now so they can call us if it happens again.

There might be a NEXTDOOR account you can join too.
Ours is full of bonkers people but you get to know the local people to watch out for.
Good luck.
Hope it all calms down.

Maybe whoever is reporting it thinks it is your second home (especially if you are from London) and that you therefore have no right to be there potentially bringing Covid germs with you.

It will be one of those Mumsnetter's who post on here. The ones with appalling low self-esteem and lives that are so drab and unfulfilling that they resort to curtain-twitching in much the same way as some inadequate men resort to non-stop porn, and for exactly the same reason. They are wanking, self stroking themselves in excitement.

I would find out who it is, and then make a point of reporting them for stalking. Which is actually a crime.

You’re (absolutely not) ruining the peace, can’t you tell?!
It’ll be the, probably self appointed, head of the village social committee trying to assert their dominance, maybe amongst other villagers and not necessarily on you.
Introduce yourselves to your neighbours with cakes and cards like others have suggested, and they’ll get over it.
Remember some people have too much time on their hands at the moment.

Oh god you live next door to one of those lockdown maniacs that have literally nothing better to do than stand at their window calling the police/council constantly if someone coughs outside. Put a big sign in the window saying “FECK OFF YOU NOSY TWAT”?

Failing that, try and find out who it is and go full on charm offensive and/or report them for stalking.

Join the neighbourhood watch or a community scheme and see if anyone is posting shite about you.

What is odd, is that the police bothered to attend. I am surprised they are engaging with this harassment.

This is the problem with living in a small town or village - everyone knows your business and there's no such thing as privacy!

The police will have a record of who made the complaint (assuming it wasn't made anonymously). As them if they would kindly report back to the complainant, informing them you and your family are new residents of the village and not breaking lock down.

The Police will no doubt soon be reprimanding whoever is making the complaints as they've all been unfounded.

People who snitch on their neighbours often have low self esteem and a borderline personality disorder. They live their lives vicariously through watching what others are doing and enjoying their discomfort. In the city where I was born if you were suspected of being a snitch bad things could happen to you.

If you take some of the advise given in this thread about networking with the locals sooner or later someone will let slip a remark which enables you to work out who it is.

Set up a Facebook account solely for the purpose of contributing to the village FB. It's very easy. It seems pointless trying to do it through your children's accounts.

Agree that it might be someone who wanted to buy your new house.

A few years ago a friend of mine bought a house and started getting lots of aggro from a older woman in the street. It turned out the older woman wanted the house for her DD and SIL. IIRC it turned out the DD and SIL had no intentions of buying the house, they were happy were they were.

Some people are just weird. Hopefully whoever is doing this to you will get bored and move on soon.

Ignore. The police will stop coming when they realise you are wasting their time. Anyway all bets are off now. Just say you're exercising your intuition

I’m a Londoner too op, and I’d not be baking cakes and writing my life story in cards to people to hope they stop being cunts to me.

I had something similar to this when I moved out of London to a village outside MK. We moved to a house with really bad parking (no problem for me - I was used to H parking 3 streets away in London anyway). The house had been empty for a while and the neighbours had got used to parking outside the house. I couldn’t drive. We often had to park outside other houses (some with 2-3 cars) and if we did they would report our car as abandoned and untaxed. Eventually I got so pissed off I wrote a note and put it in our front window stating our car was not abandoned and the man at the council was getting annoyed at all the time wasting calls and if anyone had an issue they should take it up with us.

If I were you I would either completely ignore it or do an unapologetic factual note in the window.

If you are reported again, make a point of saying this is the 4th time you've been reported and that you have kept to the guidelines and wish for the matter to be investigated as possible deliberate harassment.

Otherwise carry on as normal.

biglouis, that's nonsense about curtain twitchers having BPD, where the hell did you get that info from?

I would also go with the note through your door with your phone number, no doubt the nice neighbours will have been a victim of the curtain twitchers at some point and will hopefully tell you who they are.

There are a pair of vicious gossips in my village, when I went to a weekly craft group for a while I heard tales of swingers, wondering how X afforded the house since they only worked in a garage, gossip about someon'e curtains and best of all rumours that I was in a lesbian relationship with a friend who visited frequently (I was happy to let that rumour play out!).

I've not confronted them yet but would tell them that they need to get a life so they have something to focus on. They are both jobless, one is single with no kids and spends all most of her time hanging out with her parents across the road. Part of me pities them and their sad existences.

Is it possible they think it’s a holiday home? Where I live there are loads of holiday houses and a small section of the community are virtually staking them out for any signs of habitation. They are terrified of someone ‘bringing’ the virus to the village. They are idiots but they are just scared idiots, perhaps it’s similar in your village?

Forget the villagers - I'd make friends with the police and the council - they're the ones coming round! If it keeps happening, take it up with the police as harrassment.

I’d be tempted to fly a bedsheet from a flagpole saying GO FUCK YOURSELVES, but that wouldn’t be wise for ongoing neighbourly harmony.

But with the village curtain-twitching COVID police out in force like they are, maybe you don’t want neighbourly harmony.

I even resent “kill them with kindness”. Like they deserve it!

Small minded people are everywhere OP.

Certainly will be the same person, a close neighbour, I would expect.

I wouldn’t mention it to anyone at the moment. When you are more settled, introduce yourselves to the immediate neighbours and let it slip into conversation about making friends with the local Bobby.

There was a woman like this in the village we moved to. A strange woman who made it her business to report anything and everything. Her husband was house bound so she did have a lot on her plate. The others told us to beware she would report you for trimming a bush. Over the years she thawed and was much improved when her husband died. Once you get into the swing of the village life someone will be happy to tell you who is doing this.

@HorseWhisper Join Facebook. I live in a village and already had a FB account anyway but since lockdown I joined the village FB community group. It's been a godsend- finding out who has eggs for sale, where there is flour, farm shops and suppliers who provide for the village.

They don't have to see your entire profile on FB, just keep it limited and they won't be 'friends' who can see it.

@Destroyedpeople yup.

I live in a rural village, lots of second homes and holiday cottages so we have a 'locals' FB page where everyone has been supporting each other through the crisis. What I see from being on there is that a good portion of my village are terrified and people aren't reacting like they would in normal situations. People have gone a tiny bit crazy, it's like half of us are trying to talk the other half down all the time (but then if you've been told to shield/you are at a higher risk of dying - imagine being told you have 5% or upwards chance of dying of the disease - it's going to be a pretty terrifying time). They post the numbers to call if you see people breaking the rules every other day but they aren't evil they are just proper scared. Also village mentality! I second reaching out to whoever is organising the village Covid Team (or whatever they call it by you) they will know (or think they know) nearly everyone and probably are aware someone is reporting you and it's frustrating them too but it's old Fred from the high street and what can you do - he's a pain but everyone loves him anyway.

You've moved in strange times and people are scared and jumpy, give it time and people will laugh with you and you'll be 'the couple that moved in during the C-19 pandemic' crazy kids.