Street mechanic. Right or wrong?

It sounds like he should consider going mobile - I am guessing no one would bat an eyelid if he went and repaired those cars outside their owners' houses.

Whether or not he is paying tax on his earnings is another matter, but I hate the automatic assumption some make that anyone being paid in cash must be on the fiddle!

Well of course he’s taking the proverbial. He is monopolising the parking opportunities in the road for his own benefit and blow anyone else! As others have said, he should 1. Ask his ‘clients’ to come when he is free, or 2. Go mobile and visit them. I speak as someone who lived next door to a young lad who worked on the side cleaning cars. He left his cold water hose running literally all day pouring water down the drain. He chose not to have a water meter of course.

It’s perfectly legal to run businesses online from home eg using one room as an office. The real issues are if you employ someone at your property or have separate living/ business premises eg a flat above the shop. In this case he is impacting his neighbours and there are health and safety issues not to mention insurance

Here’s an answer from the police:

www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q621.htm

Legal if doing someone a favour but illegal if:

- it is during the course of a business, or
- it is for gain or reward, or
- it causes annoyance to people in the vicinity.

Well, it’s the black market, isn’t it? Presumably everyone pays cash and is happy about that because he’s cheaper than a garage. No business rates to pay, no tax, so he ought to be cheaper. He’s doing wrong, so is everyone who uses his service.