With it becoming ever harder to find a parking space, there's nothing more frustrating than coming up to your drive and realising that someone is blocking it with their vehicle.
But can you actually do anything about it and what are the official Highway Code rules if a car parks in front of your driveway?
It is in fact perfectly legal to park outside someone's house - unless there are additional restrictions such as double yellow lines - as long as you aren't blocking the entrance to the property, and none of your wheels are over a dropped kerb.
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The Highway Code states "do not stop or park in front of an entrance to a property" but the wording of this suggests it is not a legal requirement.
Some rules under the code, if broken, can result in fines, points on your licence, disqualification from driving and even a prison sentence.
While there is no criminal law against a stranger parking on a driveway without the homeowner's consent, a driveway is a part of private property so by driving on to it the unwanted motorist is committing an act of trespassing.
But the only way courts would have jurisdiction to remove the car from the driveway would be if the homeowner decided to pursue a civil case for trespassing.
This would involve a solicitor from the homeowner’s side getting the civil court’s permission to find out the legal owner of the unknown vehicle and the court would then need to make an order to remove the vehicle.
If the car is parked on a public road blocking a driveway, the driver is committing a parking offence - and your council has the power to get involved and issue a fine.
