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How to stop this guy from parking across our drive

(209 Posts)
Itsawelshthing Sat 15-May-21 12:14:36

I've been in my new house for just over a week now and already having issues. A car has blocked my car in by parking across the driveway on a dropped kerb. I left it first day, he parked there all morning and afternoon. But now he has parked there again and been there all morning and doesn't look like he is going to move and I need to get out of my drive to go shopping.

I know who it belongs to but I am scared of knocking on the door to ask him not to park there as it is stopping me from getting out but because he is quite a big lad and my husband and I really don't want any trouble with the neighbours.

I'm already getting very stressed about it but he clearly doesn't give a crap about where he parks. I don't want to ring the police or anything so how would you approach someone who may get very defensive and start causing problems? I'm so upset that we've moved into our own home and we are already encoutering issues.

Esspee Mon 27-Dec-21 23:22:22

Why oh why do people on Gransnet not read the thread before wasting their time giving advice to the OP who has more than once confirmed that the problem no longer exists.

HowVeryDareYou Mon 27-Dec-21 19:16:38

Knock on his door! No need for an argument or anything.

Blossoming Mon 27-Dec-21 18:14:04

I expect he’s probably moved the car by now, seeing as this thread is 7 months old! grin

Mummer Mon 27-Dec-21 18:01:44

We have similar daft parking spaces but are very understanding of neighbours lack of space so agree they can park on our very wide drive sometimes if they have visitors, they never abuse this. BUT some visiting them DO block us in, I wonder why they can't see what they're doing, mustbe thick! We just politely ask them not to block our driveand to park awaym from mouth of drive usually ok if it happens again DH gets sterner and sometimes puts his copper's head on!! But we don't antagonise we all have to live in peace!just ask nicely and make clear you are not going to get upset and ask him to respect your access!

jocork Mon 27-Dec-21 13:41:56

Most of these situations can be sorted out by a friendly conversation. At our previous house we had a shared driveway. We had a double garage with tarmac hardstanding in front while the neighbour's house had a single garage with one space tarmac in front. The remainder of the area was shared and was gravelled. The house deeds stated that parking on the gravel was not allowed. Very early on we agreed that we had no problem with guests parking on the gravel areas as long as no-one was blocked in. They were great neighbours!

Now I live by a primary school and regularly have problems parking at drop off and pick up times. I don't park in my drive as it is very narrow and because of the busyness of the road it is unsafe to reverse out, so have to reverse in - tricky. I prefer to park in the road but if there is no space I park on the white line across my own dropped kerb as I'm only blocking my own access. It does annoy me if others do that as my access is then denied. Most people move without any problems if asked but it is a problem if you don't know who they are or where they have gone. My next door neighbour also parks on the road so I have occasionally blocked his drive as he doesn't use it himself. I've cleared that with him too and would always move my car if he asked me to.

Obviously communicating with neighbours is the key. I know which neighbours usually use the space outside their house so if mine is taken I try to use one that isn't usually used even if I have to walk a bit further though occasionally I'm aware I have taken a neighbour's space. Mostly though we simply show courtesy to each other and do the best we can despite the occasional selfish inconsiderate behaviour of parents dropping their children. I once asked someone to move who was blocking my driveway. He was queuing to buy an ice cream from the van stopped in my usual space. His response - "I won't be long"! Meanwhile I was blocking the road with nowhere to go at all! Unbelievable! Thankfully idiots like that are fairly rare!

Tiggersuki Mon 27-Dec-21 10:49:12

We live in a holiday area and visitors are back now and parking a nightmare. A friend who has a house on the Isle of Wight had to involve the police when her drive was blocked for a week.
So huge sympathy but some people are scarily selfish now

effalump Mon 24-May-21 15:37:49

Or you could park your own car in front of your drive. Perhaps that would confuse him.

Hellogirl1 Fri 21-May-21 17:50:43

My house is an end terraced, with no pavement outside, just out of the door into the road. When we moved here, a good few years ago, we noticed that folk often parked outside the houses even if they didn`t live there, but one lady put a notice in her front window saying, "please do not park under this window", and amazingly, no one ever did!

GrandmaSoSew Fri 21-May-21 17:49:39

I came home after a week away to find a car parked on my drive. I called the police who said there was nothing they could do as it was on private land. After several hours, I discovered who owned it and he was very stroppy about moving it as 'there was nowhere else to park'! He was so nasty, my husband blocked him in with his car and made him pay £50 'parking fee' to let him out! The guy called me a racist because I told him not to spit on the ground! The police then came to see me to check I wasn't a racist. You couldn't make it up!!!

Grandma2002 Fri 21-May-21 16:48:55

I once parked on a dropped kerb without realising and was fined £60 by the Council. Perhaps you could "helpfully" go round and ask Parker if he realises parking on dropped kerbs is a fining offence. You could also mention that "in case of emergency, etc" as suggested by MollyAA12.

Itsawelshthing Fri 21-May-21 08:32:19

Knock on wood he has not parked in front of my drive.... I hope I haven't jinxed it as I am off to work today!

welbeck Fri 21-May-21 01:30:16

please be careful.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9601061/Grandfather-72-killed-man-wielding-brick-dispute-parking-cul-sac.html

M0nica Thu 20-May-21 19:40:50

rugbymumcumbria In extremis, you do contact the police, because the owner of the car is unamenable to reason or threatens violence, that is one of the many things the police do.

A relation had to do it because he needed at times to get his wife to hospital in an emergency, which he couldn't do with a car parked across the very narrow drive to his garage.

The police just put tickets on the offending vehicles and after a month or two, they got the message and the problem ceased.

rugbymumcumbria Thu 20-May-21 18:38:14

Please don’t try and involve the Police, they’ve got enough to do!
Just ask him to shift!

Whatdayisit Thu 20-May-21 11:29:38

I am hoping he parks across the drive again so the OP can come back for more advice!
And next time a diagram would be useful too and maybe a sketch of the offender.

Millie22 Thu 20-May-21 11:23:10

There's a man based in London who likes Martini. He'll get it moved for you if it happens again ???

Greeneyedgirl Thu 20-May-21 11:15:03

Most people do not usually block people’s driveways and leave their cars there. It’s quite antisocial behaviour. Wasn’t there some research that showed that people who park in disability bays and who are not disabled for example, have other antisocial, or lawbreaking traits?

JaneJudge Thu 20-May-21 11:08:09

He was a huge, beastly, bulging man and he was wearing a blue leisure suit. #ChevyChase

May7 Thu 20-May-21 10:28:36

Lucca
Hallo! Rumour has it this has been sorted ....days ago...mentioned 83 times on this thread.

Hello
I know the OP has returned and said its sorted but it isnt really is it??
It's just a problem that's been averted until next time.

I just wanted to add my opinion and for the OP to know she is not on her own in disliking confrontation.

GagaJo Thu 20-May-21 10:27:25

Has he been back, Itsawelshthing?

Lovetopaint037 Thu 20-May-21 10:24:12

If your car was in evidence then he has a cheek and might just be trying it on. However, perhaps the previous owners didn’t mind or was the house unoccupied? In any case just knock and smile, introduce yourself and say you need to get your car out and he probably didn’t realise you had moved in. Not sure why you should be so frightened of doing this unless you have moved into a really rough sort of neighbourhood full of violence. In which case sign up for self defence/judo classes right away.

coastalgran Thu 20-May-21 10:01:06

If you are boxed in and need to get your car out then politely ask him to move his car to let you out. He probably hasn't even noticed that you can't get out, maybe he thinks he has left enough room for you. This lad has probably been parking in that spot for ages and doesn't know that things have now changed in the neighbourhood. There is nothing to be nervous about you all need to live together.

Shropshirelass Thu 20-May-21 09:12:31

You could ask him to move his car and explain that you need to be able to get out at all times, perhaps if you go out very often he will get fed up of having to move it and will find somewhere else. You could park your car there so that he has to find somewhere else. Put some No Parking signs or cones in the space and signs saying access required at all times. He sounds very inconsiderate.

Bette22 Thu 20-May-21 09:12:20

We had a similar problem with a neighbour who asked if they could park across our drive on one occasion as they couldnt find a space and my husband said yes. However they then assumed they had the right to use it permanently. They are very aloof and unfriendly normally , park their car across and then ignore you . I got really fed up with it after it had been left there for days and wrote a polite note and stuck it under her window wipers early one morning headed asking her to refrain from parking there as it prevented us from getting out in an emergency and it also stopped us from turning right out of our own drive . She always parked it , just leaving enough room to squeeze out!!
She hasn't parked it there since . We didnt confront her and since she never acknowledges us any way it wasnt a problem .

Franbern Thu 20-May-21 09:04:04

Meryl Yes, maybe the original OP problem in this matter has been sorted. But this has thrown up the fact that other people have similar problems.
Do not think it is up to you, or any individual, to try to 'police' the posts people are making.
Often, when someone raised any issue or question, it gives the opportunity for other people with similar issues to come along and talk about what is effecting them.
Please let posters make their comments without wasting space telling them 'It's sorted'.