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Author: Subject: Garage access, wheel clamp, legal question?
nitram38

posted on 25/5/09 at 10:00 AM Reply With Quote
Garage access, wheel clamp, legal question?

I rent a second garage off the local council for my tintop and I work shifts.
Sometimes I leave for work at 3am.
3 times I have had my garage blocked by parked cars even though I have a 24Hr Access warning sign. Each time it has been a different person, but they live in the same cul-de-sac, so they should know better.
Is it legal for me to put up a Wheel clamp notice and if necessary, act on it (put a clamp on the offenders car) to claim back loss of earnings if I am prevented from going to work?

I am interested in doing this right because sounding my car horn and waking everybody up (I don't know which person owns the cars) is not going to win me any friends........






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Mr Whippy

posted on 25/5/09 at 10:05 AM Reply With Quote
1) Fill a watering can with boiling water

2) add 2 portions of large dog poo

4) stir well

5) poor into heater vent of offending car





Fame is when your old car is plastered all over the internet

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BenB

posted on 25/5/09 at 10:17 AM Reply With Quote
You'ld need permission of the land-owner (IE the council) before you could wheel-clamp them and presumably you'ld also need to be registered nowadays. I think the usual trick is to get some "permanent" sticks and print "DO NOT PARK IN FRONT OF MY GARAGE- READ THE SIGN" and stick a few on their windscreen. They'll come off with a scraper and some meths / carb cleaner but it'll be a PITA and maybe as they're scrapping them off the screen they'll take in the message subliminarily (or however you spell that!!!)...
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mistergrumpy

posted on 25/5/09 at 10:20 AM Reply With Quote
Pretty sure you have to be registered with the SIA before clamping vehicles and I'm sure someone was having a crackdown on clampers recently because they were charging an absolute fortune. One gang in Manchester I spoke to on a concert night were the best side of £300!






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nitram38

posted on 25/5/09 at 10:22 AM Reply With Quote
I've just emailed the council to ask them to put up wheelclamp signs and paint yellow crosshatch lines in front of our garages.
I will offer to do the signs if they say they can't.
I pointed out the recent rent increase which they put down to " re-evaluation due to property price increases". What during a recession?






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adithorp

posted on 25/5/09 at 10:24 AM Reply With Quote
If the cars aren't actually on your property then I don't think you can clamp them. There's no restriction on putting up a sign though, but if they don't take noticeof the on you've already got, will they notice?

Writing a nice letter to the local residents will get better results than Whippys "sensible" approch. Point out that you miss work because of "inadvertant blocking" of the garage. Put a copy through all the local houses letterbox's. After that contact the council and ask for there advise/help.





"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire

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rusty nuts

posted on 25/5/09 at 10:35 AM Reply With Quote
Get a decent trolley jack , jack the car up and move it
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mr henderson

posted on 25/5/09 at 10:55 AM Reply With Quote
Trouble with '24 hur access' signs is that they are quite common and people don't really take any notice, they simply don't mentally engage with it.

How about a sign saying "I quite often need to get this vehicle out at 3am, so please don't block the garage"





"and BTW, it's a rough old Land Rover with reinforced bumpers and quite capable of pushing a blocking car out of the way"

John






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nitram38

posted on 25/5/09 at 10:55 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
Get a decent trolley jack , jack the car up and move it


Which can have criminal damage implications too!






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gottabedone

posted on 25/5/09 at 11:10 AM Reply With Quote
Unfortunately we're all at the mercy of these ignorant ba£$%^ds.
There are more ways for you going to court for all of the above reasons than making any progress. I live on a bend on a narrow lane on a hill, it's access only and one-way past my house. We have all sorts of problems with idiots using it as a short cut and running the one way system . We can't see right off our drive so can't actually see them coming!!

Police have basically told us to poke it (my word against theirs were the words of one sergeant!) Council put up a sign - now that helps

Are your garages private property (council) or classed as a public road as that make a difference as well.

As all of the politicians are puckered up at the moment - set your your local MP on the task - if you're lucky he/she will badger the Council for you

Good luck

Steve

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rusty nuts

posted on 25/5/09 at 11:19 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
Get a decent trolley jack , jack the car up and move it


Which can have criminal damage implications too!


Only if you damage the car.

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UncleFista

posted on 25/5/09 at 12:53 PM Reply With Quote
How about some large, mega-sticky, A4 stickers stuck to the windscreen with a polite message on ? You know the sticky stuff I mean, evil long-chain hydrocarbons that only come off with thinners/angle grinder





Tony Bond / UncleFista

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Which suddenly flips, pinning you underneath.
At night the ice-weasels come...

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mistergrumpy

posted on 25/5/09 at 12:59 PM Reply With Quote
quote:

Get a decent trolley jack , jack the car up and move it



That'll be TWOC there so be careful.






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balidey

posted on 25/5/09 at 01:19 PM Reply With Quote
any stickers or 'poo' offenses on the car will only make the matter worse. They know where you keep your car.
I would suggest a note under the windscreen only. Anything more will get their backs up.

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nitram38

posted on 25/5/09 at 01:23 PM Reply With Quote
I have some fake parking tickets off ebay which I have used, but at the end of the day I could lose money if I can't get to work.
Once the MotaLeira is road legal I will probably swap garages so I should be ok getting to work, but the same thing might happen if I need to get out to a show or just go out for a blat.
It is more annoying for me to pay £60 a month to get this hassle!






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ashg

posted on 25/5/09 at 01:25 PM Reply With Quote
just stab all their tyres and smash their windows. the message will soon get round that your pissed off.


on a more serious note. put a BIG notice on your garage door saying " PARKING IN FRONT OF MY GARAGE = YOUR CAR SMASHED UP!

if i saw a sign like that i wouldnt park infront of your garage.

[Edited on 25/5/09 by ashg]





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oldtimer

posted on 25/5/09 at 01:31 PM Reply With Quote
I think you have a legal right of accesss to your property so if someone blocks it I believe you can phone the council and get them towed at their expense.
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200mph

posted on 25/5/09 at 02:16 PM Reply With Quote
Indeed oldtimer, my old flatmate got a call from the police one evening saying if she didn't move her car in 10 minutes it would be towed as she had unknowingly parked over someone's driveway.

This was ~7pm so outwith office hours, so assume the same would apply at 3am. Probably a call to local police station involved but the problem being it would all take a load of time before you could actually get out





If it isn't broke, fix it until it is

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aerosam

posted on 25/5/09 at 02:32 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
I am interested in doing this right because sounding my car horn and waking everybody up (I don't know which person owns the cars) is not going to win me any friends........


How about a sign warning that the whole street will be woken by loud horn blowing if the garage is blocked?

I have a similar problem, I live in a not-so-nice area and had to put up cctv cameras 2 years ago. Suddenly the whole street started parking in front of my house so their cars would be on camera, usually parking both mine and the wife's cars in.





Had enough of this dictatorship known as LCB. Gone elsewhere, not coming back. Kiss my ass ChrisW.

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westf27

posted on 25/5/09 at 04:21 PM Reply With Quote
glass cutter across a window just above the door seal,paint stripper or just burn it.Strange how the pratt who committs the crime has all the protection.Wheel clamps a good one but personally I never leave home without me angle grinder.







555

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RoadkillUK

posted on 25/5/09 at 04:47 PM Reply With Quote
I once parked across someones drive, I didn't realise at the time. I got a phone call from the police asking me to move my car as it's blocking the driveway of a disabled person.

They must have checked the DVLA database for my name and address, then phoned my house, got my mobile number from my missus and the phoned me.

It wasn't 3am though.





Roadkill - Lee
www.bradford7.co.uk
Latest Picture (14 Sept 2014)

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DarrenW

posted on 26/5/09 at 11:25 AM Reply With Quote
Another idea for you. Do you live in a neighbourhood watch area? Have a word with whoever heads up the activity in your area first. Where we live (and in every estate in the country) there is a small problem with dog owners letting their animals foul the path's etc despite several dog poo bins being available. We got a letter recently asking dog owners to be more courteous and pick up their dogs mess and use the bins provided. Most of the time i do this anyway, and of course some people will never take note but the situation has got better. Maybe a polite note in the next newsletter ref parking would be a good move. I dare guess you arent the only person who gets inconvenienced by it. The other option - assuming all of the garages are in a block - is to put another sign up at the entrance to the block asking people not to block access to the garages.

Doesnt matter what you do as some people just dont seem to care but if the newsletter and extra signs reduce the occurence it must be a good thing.

Im afraid i cant condone moving the offending vehicles or resorting to malicious tactics as it can lead to a worsening of the situation.

Only other option i can see is getting in touch with all of the other renters in the block and asking them to place the same warning sign on all of the garage doors. Hopefully then it cant be un-noticed by any visitors.






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