Parking in a residential road

[Lobba]

I hope you can help me understand this:
On Tuesday evenings, I attend a 2.5 hour adult education class and park my car in a residential road nearby. Yesterday, I noticed one of the residents watching me as I went to my class. On returning I had a printed note under my windscreen reading: This is private property. Please park elsewhere. Thank you.

This road is quiet, all the houses have drives and garages and I was not obstructing the flow of traffic or a driveway. Although the note was polite, I am irritated that someone would be so petty as to have issue to me parking in their road for 2.5 hours, after 7pm, once a week! I was wondering if they have any legal rights to object to me parking there?

I am also angry that, legal or not, the note will probably have the desired effect because I would not put it past someone who takes the time to word-process such messages to scratch my paintwork or puncture my tyres!

[Keeprockin]

None whatsoever. if your not causing obstruction and it's not a permit only street,then the highway is not theirs.

[almcd007]

Many people think by buying their house they have bought the piece of road infront of it as long as you are not causing obstruction or its not a permit only road or an unadopted road - it is not Private Property - they think they can fool you into thinking so. They were probably annoyed that there was no space for them when hubby/wife came home.

[joko]

print your own note, saying that it is a public street and you are entitled to park anywhere you like on it

[dannydingbat]

Are you sure the road is public and not maintained by the people who live in it?

[Ethel]

Check the road name plate - if it says 'unadopted' it is private and maintained by the householders.

Otherwise, if there is no signage to indicate residential parking schemes and so on, you are entitled to park there.

Technically, the person who put the notice under your wiper has committed a trespass.

If I were you I'd continue to park there and encourage my fellow students to do the same.

[Mrs_Pegasus]

I agree with the other answers that unless the road is unadopted then they have no right. However, they could argue that you were blocking their view out of their drive way and cant see around your vehicle. Any car parked in a street on the highway is interupting the flow of traffic because 2 cars coming in opposite directions will mean that one car will have to wait behind your car to allow the other car to pass. I am not saying they are right for what they have done or you are wrong for parking there but I can see both sides of the argument.

[furrycheeky]

All good advice above, except if you continue to park, you will then be annoying this "little hitler" and it would be all too easy for you to come back to your car and find a flat tyre, scratch or worse.
In my opinion its not worth the aggro to park a bit further down the road.