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More cars coupled with more parking restrictions mean the pressure to find somewhere to stop is growing. But what happens if you need to get somewhere and your drive is blocked?

One irate homeowner recently responded by trapping an offending car for two days with a bag of gravel, while another became a minor internet star by writing an impressively passive-aggressive note on the window of someone who blocked him in.

But what are you actually allowed to do to the offending vehicle? Worryingly little, it turns out.

“The first step with any anti-social parking problem is to contact your local authority or the police; however there is little the law can do to support home owners – even if a car blocks your driveway,” said Charlotte Dixon, solicitor at DAS Law.

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(Image: Daily Post)

“The Highway Code can only help if the parked car is causing an obstruction to the road but not in relation to private land.”

But that doesn't leave you entirely powerless.

“One option that’s available is to pursue a legal claim for nuisance on the grounds that the driver is interfering with your use and enjoyment of your property – but to do so you’d need to know the identity of the offending vehicle’s driver,” Dixon added.

Of course, that cuts both ways. As long as you don't cause an obstruction to the road or damage the offending car, there's no reason you can't get a little bit of revenge (if not justice) by positioning your own car or other property to block them in – because there's no way you can be done for trespassing on your own property.

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The key legal facts about blocked driveways

If a vehicle is parked on your driveway without your permission, they would be trespassing. As trespass is a civil and not criminal offence the police will not always get involved. They can send an officer to try and determine the owner of the vehicle and ask them to move.

A homeowner has no special legal right to park directly outside their property. All road users have the same right to park anywhere on the public highway as long as they do not contravene parking restrictions.

There is no time limit on how long a vehicle can remain parked in the same space on a road. The exception to this is if the vehicle is thought to have been abandoned, in which case it can be removed by the police.

Trying to keep a parking space available outside your home using cones or some other obstacle could be viewed as obstruction and liable to prosecution – unless your local authority has granted you the right to do so for something like a funeral.

If someone has parked on your driveway and you were to block them in, be careful not to cause an obstruction to the public highway as this is a criminal offence. If you do, the owner of the vehicle could call the police on you.

Vandalising a parked car is a criminal act and can be prosecuted. Even if just spraying chip fat on the windscreen or blocking the exhaust, these acts could still be classed as vandalism.

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