Off road parking without breaking down kerb

[TotalControl]

Having a little discussion with my Uncle at present regarding the legalities of this. He says that people are being charged up to £3k for taking a car over the unbroken kerb to park into your front garden/drive. My arguement was that how can the 'council' (or whoever is involved) prove thiat the car goes over the kerb, and as such, charge you such an excessive ammount.

Also, not sure whether the car is parked overnight and used daily or parked as SORN has been declared has any relevance with this given situation.

Help, I've bet him a fiver over this.

Edited as I missed out a bit.

Edited by TotalControl on Sunday 22 March 22:51

[DrTre]

Unless I've misunderstood, surely they can prove it by the very fact your car is there, ie on the other side of the unbroken kerb?!
I'm assuming you're meaning there is no drop kerb for the entrance?

Edited by DrTre on Sunday 22 March 22:52

[NDA]

I would imagine seeing the car parked would be proof that the kerb had been driven over. Mind you, I'm no detective.

[svm]

TotalControl said:

My arguement was that how can the 'council' (or whoever is involved) prove this, and as such, charge you such an excessive ammount.

A photo taken from the street showing the car, pavement crossed and the parked area would be pretty good evidence in a court of law. Equally, the receipt from the lorry company with the HIAB that lifted it across the path would be a good defence.

But we all know you're not going to have that.... Yet.

[ianash]

I think builders call this a "ransom strip".

[Caruso]

I may be mistaken, but I think the £3k is the figure some councils charge for fitting a drop kerb.

I've never heard of one fining somebody for driving their car over the kerb to get to an off road parking space.

[Chrisgr31]

I understabnd a ransom strip is slightly different. A ransom strip occurs where you don't own the strip of land between you and public highway, and that strip could be tiny.

The OP is talking about the huge amoiunt local authorities charge to drop a kerb outside your house.

[TotalControl]

The reason i say that the proof is required is because, sorry if i'm being dense at this time of the night guys, there may have been a way to get the car onto the drive without touching the kerb itself IE a ramp that goes from the road over the kerb onto the drive. Or does that not qualify?

[anonymous-user]

Caruso said:

I may be mistaken, but I think the £3k is the figure some councils charge for fitting a drop kerb.

I've never heard of one fining somebody for driving their car over the kerb to get to an off road parking space.

That's my understanding, though presumably you'd be liable for any damage you do to the kerb?

[Nobody You Know]

What??????????

I don't get it. There is no dropped kerb but you want to park off road? So just put a plank of would down?

You can't be fined for driving over the kerb, other wise they would have to fine the millions of people who park with a wheel on the kerb?

[TotalControl]

Nobody You Know said:

What??????????

I don't get it. There is no dropped kerb but you want to park off road? So just put a plank of would down?

You can't be fined for driving over the kerb, other wise they would have to fine the millions of people who park with a wheel on the kerb?

This is exactly what i thought. If this was the case, millions would get fined for this type of parking.

[anonymous-user]

Nobody You Know said:

You can't be fined for driving over the kerb, other wise they would have to fine the millions of people who park with a wheel on the kerb?

Parking on the kerb is an offence IIRC, classed as driving on the pavement. There's an exception to access property (ie driveways), but I don't know if that's dependant on having a dropped kerb or not.

[Simond001]

Dropping a kerb is easy. Find a local builder with the correct permissions and ask them to drop the kerb.

They'll do the paperwork with the council and should be able to do the work for a grand or so.

[Nobody You Know]

Symbolica said:

Nobody You Know said:

You can't be fined for driving over the kerb, other wise they would have to fine the millions of people who park with a wheel on the kerb?

Parking on the kerb is an offence IIRC, classed as driving on the pavement. There's an exception to access property (ie driveways), but I don't know if that's dependant on having a dropped kerb or not.

Never heard of anyone being fined even by the most Nazi of traffic wardens for parking with a wheel on the kerb, go to any residential area in a city and 50% of the cars will be parked like this.

Just stick a plank down.

[Nolar Dog]

If you had no intention of selling your house in the near future would there be an issue with installing your own drop kerb?

Is anyone likely to know/realise that you don;t have the relevant permission?
Is anyone going to "investigate" and "grass you up"?
Will the council come round on the off chance and notice they don't have record of your approval for the drop?
Could I (theoretically) install a drop kerb and get away with it?

[TotalControl]

Nolar Dog said:

If you had no intention of selling your house in the near future would there be an issue with installing your own drop kerb?

Is anyone likely to know/realise that you don;t have the relevant permission?
Is anyone going to "investigate" and "grass you up"?
Will the council come round on the off chance and notice they don't have record of your approval for the drop?
Could I (theoretically) install a drop kerb and get away with it?

Well, there was a section i the papers not long ago where someone got fined a hefty bit for damaging the kerb. Cant quite remember the exact details or paper that published this.

[XJSJohn]

A mate of mine got away with this one (but the timing is essential, and road repairs probably don't happen in Browns Britain any more)

One morning my mate noticed that some highways chaps were doing some measuring on his road and marking various (damaged) bits of kerb with white paint, so when they left he went out and put 2 white lines across the kerb either side of his access ...

Day later the Irish Navvy's turned up and dropped his kerb at the same time

[anonymous-user]

Nolar Dog said:

If you had no intention of selling your house in the near future would there be an issue with installing your own drop kerb?

Is anyone likely to know/realise that you don;t have the relevant permission?
Is anyone going to "investigate" and "grass you up"?
Will the council come round on the off chance and notice they don't have record of your approval for the drop?
Could I (theoretically) install a drop kerb and get away with it?

A nosey neighbour may call the council to dob you in!. Also you would be liable in the unlikely event of any services being damaged, could be costly..
I recently had dropped kerb installed, was about £100 for the council to say yes + £500 for council approved roadworker to do the work. They also come back to inspect it is a couple of years & the contractor has to put right any problems..