I woke up to find someone else parked on my driveway – but my crafty revenge means they’ll have to walk from now on
A HOMEOWNER has revealed how they took cunning revenge on a pesky motorist who parked on their driveway, forcing them to walk from now on.
The selfish driver got more than they bargained for when they left their car behind without a care.
The black Nissan SUV was parked directly across the dropped kerb that marked the edge of drive in Irlam, Greater Manchester.
Photos show that it was sat horizontally along the entrance to the home, completely blocking access to it.
When the owner of the property woke up, they were stunned to see the careless bit of parking and soon hatched a plan.
It can be a tricky process to remove a car parked fully on your driveway thanks to the rather complicated regulations involved.
Much more clear cut, though, are the rules around dropped kerbs on public roads.
If you want to install a drive at your home, one of the steps will be to apply to the local council for a dropped kerb.
This is often one of the biggest struggles homeowners face when getting approval for the project.
Indeed, one man went public after being forced to shell out thousands to redo the kerb twice in a long-running dispute with his local authority.
However, once you get the dropped kerb, it creates a legally enforceable buffer zone around your drive with very strict rules on stopping there, even if there is no white line across it.
By parking across the kerb, the Nissan owner was not only inconsiderately blocking the resident in, but they were also breaking the law.
As such, the homeowner called the cops straight away, with officers coming round and slapping the car with a traffic offence for obstructing the road.
The police also seized the car and spirited it away on the back of a truck, leaving the red-faced owner with no choice but to walk home for the foreseeable future.
No doubt the price to recover the motor from the impound lot will amount to a hefty fine.
Is it illegal to park on someone else's driveway?
In short, no it is not illegal to park across somebody else’s driveway unless you park on a dropped kerb.
If someone is blocking your driveway and you want them to move, the police won’t be able to do anything.
In the event of a dispute, you should contact your local council as it is a civil matter.
Unfortunately, they may not be able to help either if the car is on private land and is not obstructing the road or on a dropped kerb.
This would be classed as trespassing, requiring you to apply for an eviction order from a court, which can take months.
The police will only become involved if the dispute escalates to a crime, for example, if the repeated nuisance parking could be classed as harassment.
Likewise, local councils are able to remove cars if they are classified as abandoned, but that too is only after several months.
Sharing photos of the car on X, Greater Manchester Police wrote: “Traffic PCSOs attended a reported obstruction in Irlam.
“The Nissan arrived in the early hours and was left across the driveway.
“Owner could not get their vehicle out, tried local social media before contacting us [but the] driver did not return.
“Traffic Offence Report issued, vehicle removed.”