Yellow lines on road- slightly OT

[Howard Neil]

You are right. It is classified as Criminal Damage, contrary the Criminal Damage Act 1971 Section 1(1). Maximum penalty 10 years imprisonment.

Howard Neil

[PM]

I doubt most adults would be able to state the exact conditions whereby a crossing is 'valid' or 'invalid'. In general kids will be taught to cross at a proper crossing if possible. Common sense dictates what is a proper crossing, until some d*****ad decides to paint his own!

Pete

[Chris Cowley]

I wonder if maybe there has. Neighbours of ours had someone park across their drive a few months ago while they where out. Unfortunately, the inconsiderate parker turned out to be a guy on his way to the local Crown Court who was subsequently imprisoned for 2 weeks! The local police turned up and said they couldn't do anything about it for the reasons stated by (there was no car on the drive being blocked in, so no "obstruction").

The car was eventually bounced out of the way (with the aid of the police in fact, but I think they were acting purely out of sympathy rather than duty).

[Howard Neil]

This sounds as if the police that attended were simply taking the simplest (and possibly the best, in these circumstances) route to solve the obstruction. Since moving a vehicle in this way would constitute "Taking a Conveyance" contrary the Theft Act 1968, unless the person doing so has the consent of the owner or other lawful authority, the police officers concerned would have committed this offence unless the vehicle had been causing obstruction (and, therefore, providing the lawful authority for the police officers). They would have known this and I do not believe they would have put their freedom, their jobs, and their pensions at risk just to carry out an act of sympathy.

The same lawful authority would not apply to your neighbours in these circumstances, hence the police officers taking the action that they did. It sounds, from this, that there has been no change in the law of obstruction.

Regards

Howard Neil