You wrote:
If somebody parks in front of my drive, I just ring the police to remove it!!
(If they do, except in certain circumstances, they are exceeding their duties.)
I reply:
It is not an offence to park in front of an empty drive. A policeman with nothing better to do might attempt to locate the owner of the car causing the obstruction and ask him/her to remove it, but unless he was walking the beat, I doubt if any remaining station would despatch a squad car to deal with the matter.
I am often forced, in my line of work to park in such positions, usually between 9am - 5pm and normally for no more than 5 -10 minutes. I always leave a note, stating where I am, a telephone number and stating a short toot on the horn, will bring me running. Usually this is fine, but sometimes the driveway user is apoplectic with rage and will not listen to reason, even when I explain I am on an emergency call and can hardly park in another road.
I have sought legal advice on the matter, as both the police and house-owners have varying ideas as to the law.
The following legal advice was received:
There is no offence of inconsiderate parking and no remedy for victims of it: it is just another of the aggravations of urban living in the 90's. The nearest I can find is in section 78 of the Highways Act 1835 which makes it a summary offence to leave a "cart or carriage" (including a car presumably!) on the highway" so as to obstruct the passage thereof". The usual interpretation being with regard to traffic flow, not solitary access to off-street parking.
Therefore, no offence is committed by parking in such a way as to prevent access to a private off-street parking space. It is an offence though, to park in such a way as to prevent an exit from such a space, if said space is occupied by a vehicle.
Speaking to friends who live in a CPZ area, I find what annoys them most is driveway owners who use their cars 5-6 days of the week to travel to work sometimes leaving as early as 6am and not returning til late at night, thereby depriving other residents of a valuble parking space by day.