Parking on access only road

[Ely]

I recently parked on an access only road (with driveways so not stealing any spots, although 'spots' outside a home on a council road do not belong to any particular person), there were no road markings or signs saying no parking or something to that effect. I came back to my car with an obviously fake home made warning ticket from some curtain twitcher that needs to get a life.

I have searched google and I can't find a solid answer to whether or not I am within my rights to park there. I do not understand the jargon of official council pages. Are there any council workers here that are knowledgable and can explain this to me? As far as I see it, my car is fully taxed and licensed, and I needed access to a parking space. What right does a curtain twitcher with a driveway have to stick notes on my car? Gummed up my bloody window too.

 

[pargyle]

Depends upon whether it is a 'Private Road' ... ie: The residents living in it actually own/share the responsibility for its upkeep in which case they do have the rights to enforce their own parking restrictions as you are effectively parking on private property. If the road is 'Adopted' by the council whereby they then take responsibility for it's upkeep then as long as you are not parked in a restricted (ie: yellow lines) area or obstructing a drive or other right of way then you pay your car tax and you can park there. It's something I looked into a few years ago when we were considering buying a house on an unadopted but well finished road - but commuters were parking there rather than paying the station car park fees. Didn't go ahead with the purchase for other reasons in the end.

The fact that the road you are talking about is signed as 'access only' does not tell you the whole story .... it should have a sign saying Private Road if residents own it and want to keep fly parkers off ... sorry !!

 

[domino]

Is it a privately adopted road?

 

[Torq]

You could put a small camera in the car, park in the same spot and catch the person putting another sticker on the window. You can then hang about a bit and find out who it is then politely ask them why they are doing it. If they have no rights to do so and are being a dick you can report them to the police for interfering with your car.

Oh yea, Carburetor cleaner is a great solvent for removing glue from glass, just keep it off the paint.

 

[dn170221]

If there are alternatives I would avoid parking there.
In the right or not there could be a fair bit of hassle if they want to make it so.
Don't forget you are leaving your car there for a period, when you cant watch it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Depends upon whether it is a 'Private Road' ... ie: The residents living in it actually own/share the responsibility for its upkeep in which case they do have the rights to enforce their own parking restrictions as you are effectively parking on private property. If the road is 'Adopted' by the council whereby they then take responsibility for it's upkeep then as long as you are not parked in a restricted (ie: yellow lines) area or obstructing a drive or other right of way then you pay your car tax and you can park there.

If it's adopted by the council then it's a public road.
Noone has the 'right' to the spot of public road outside his/her house whatever they may believe. 'Access only' is just an indication that the road goes nowhere basically, not a claim of ownership.
My advice would be to park there again, hide away somewhere to watch your vehicle and the nperson sticking the notice on. Establish where he lives then return the notice to them through their letterbox - wrapped around a nice big dog turd

 

[Ely]

I had a good look around and saw no parking restriction signs or private road signs. I found somewhere else to park that is actually a little more convenient. There is that nagging voice in my head saying some cretin has won when he is wrong but has got away with it. Can't be bothered with hassle though

 

[enrico]

Parking on any highway anywhere is an offence of obstruction but........it is obviously not one that would ever be enforced unless the obstruction was more than merely parking. Eg in front of a drive on a drop kerb.
If the highway is not adopted then it belongs to the owners. In which case maybe they were just being polite in asking you to move!
E

 

[REDWOOD]

Buy a tank and park it in his living room

 

[clv101]

I came back to my car with an obviously fake home made warning ticket from some curtain twitcher that needs to get a life.

Best thing to do is knock on a few doors, find out who left the note and have a chat. Very likely they are a perfectly nice, reasonable person in the flesh and you'll be able to find out just what the situation is.

 

[yeogi75]

I ounce had a similarly problem had to leave my car for two days on public high way not obstructing any access, came back with trailer to collect car and had stickers all over the windows six in total , lucky for me someone grassed them up, went back when dark and put some sun flowers all over there frount windows, used permeable plastic cut out flowers they were on there for four weeks as you need a heat gun to remove or some decent glue remover, retribution was sweet.

 

[dpearce4]

people at the end of the road where I have my allotment have blocked the local council carpark so people don't park in it and have put stupid notices up saying private road and no parking cars will be clamped.. they have done this cose of asshole dads that block drive ways while little johnnie plays little league every Saturday and sunday. causes us unsing the allotments massive hassle to as we cant get anywhere near. ever though we have keys to get across park to park out side allotment gates.

I was a little hero last year as I drove my car across in really muddy conditions and left 4in deep car tracks across the pitches. they couldn't play for whole of the rest of the season. oops.

 

[BeeJayBee]

I recently parked on an access only road (with driveways so not stealing any spots, although 'spots' outside a home on a council road do not belong to any particular person), there were no road markings or signs saying no parking or something to that effect. I came back to my car with an obviously fake home made warning ticket ...

If there's a proper sign that says the road is 'access only' then that's what it is, it's for residents and visitors to access whatever properties/premises are there, and not for casual parking. Signs can be enforced by traffic wardens or the police.

Check some of these news items.

If the sign has been made by residents then it has no authority, and nor do their car window stickers.

 

[masterBK]

Two wrongs don't make a right. Revenge may be sweet but shows something very unpleasant about a persons character.

Besides it can escalate and before you know it you find someone poisoning your bees or setting fire to your hives (has happened to people in the past especially on allotments )

 

[Hivemaker.]

Two wrongs don't make a right. Revenge may be sweet but shows something very unpleasant about a persons character.

Besides it can escalate and before you know it you find someone poisoning your bees or setting fire to your hives (has happened to people in the past especially on allotments )

Only need to look at what is going on with those terrorists, burning and cutting hostages heads off, now the Jordanians have started hanging the terrorists that they have captured.

 

[yeogi75]

Two wrongs don't make a right. Revenge may be sweet but shows something very unpleasant about a persons character.

Besides it can escalate and before you know it you find someone poisoning your bees or setting fire to your hives (has happened to people in the past especially on allotments )

I don't care , if I break down on public highways I don't expect to come back to remove car and find some sanctimonious prat has stuck up my window, I should be able to leave my car without the hassle if not obstructing anyone drive way, possibly you condone what was done but I don't.

 

[DontWorryBeeHappy]

If the road has legitimate signs marking it as "Access Only" then it is not a private road. These signs can only be erected on a public highway after traffic regulations have been approved. You can easily check to see if there is a current legitimate traffic regulation in place by contacting the local Highways Agency.

"Access only" simply means you can only drive down it to get access to premises on that road e.g. to get to a house if you live on that street or if you are visiting someone on that street or to get access to premises which can only reached by driving down that road. "

"Access" does not include driving down purely to park in a convenient location while you go to a shop in a different street or while you go to work on a different street etc.
However if you drove down the road to visit a resident or get access to your apiary in a field accessed from that road that would be legitimate use.

IF you breach the restriction, I say if because I am not certain why you drove on that road, you commit a moving traffic violation by driving down the road and are liable for penalty points and a fine for driving on the road, the parking is incidental to that offence.

Now to the practicalities, legitimate access or not you have clearly come across a frustrated local. They are obviously so frustrated that they have taken the trouble to put silly notes on your car. If you park there again I can only see Mr or Mrs Angry has three choices,

1) Ignore your car (Is that likely bearing in mind what they have done already?)

2) Report you to the Police. (If that happens have a legitimate reason for using the road or you risk points and a fine.)

3) Mr or Mrs Angry may be a complete ar*ehole and decided to take the law into their own hands and "accidentally" catch the side of your car with a key as they walk passed.

If you are using the road for legitimate access you could take the high moral stand point and park there again. Personally I would find another place to park, I just wouldn't want to spend all day worrying about my car paintwork regardless of the rights or wrongs.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Only need to look at what is going on with those terrorists, burning and cutting hostages heads off, now the Jordanians have started hanging the terrorists that they have captured.

A real horror show Pete. I was hoping the Jordanians wouldn't lower themselves to the level of ISIS. Sadly, more to come.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

The first question is whether the road is a highway - if it is, is it maintainable at public expense i.e. a maintainable public highway, In this case, parking is controlled, or not, by the local authority - not by any busybody who feels the urge. If it is a highway but not maintainable, and there are still some of these around, the matter gets rather complicated - it could be a highway for pedestrians and a privately owned access road for use with vehicles, in which case the owner of the road can decide who, if anybody, can park there.

If the road is not any sort of highway then it is a private road and the owner or a duly authorised management organisation can control what happens on it - they don't need yellow lines or little yellow signs, just something saying Private Road - No Parking.

If you wish to find the status of the road, contact the highway authority and ask to inspect the Section 36 list of highways, which every HA has a DUTY to maintain and make available to the public. Unless things have changed recently, I do not believe the HA can charge you for viewing the list of highways.

CVB

 

[Hivemaker.]

A real horror show Pete. I was hoping the Jordanians wouldn't lower themselves to the level of ISIS. Sadly, more to come.

It is indeed, Mike, very sickening.