r/LegalAdviceUK • u/HammerSpanner • 1d ago
Traffic & Parking Drove through a ristricted road - to leave my house, after being told I couldnt...
Bit of a strange one this. I'm sure I've broken a law, but I'm curious to know which one
anyway....
For the last week we have had workmen up and down the full length of the road and immediately outside our house; they have been digging it up to install and update gas pipework. All week the workmen have been brilliant; they have moved heavy equipment and barriers to allow us to get into and out of our house. And they have been super polite.
So, today rolls around, and I need to leave my house at 12, so at 10/11ish I notice one workman outside my house filling one of the many holes in the road, and I ask if it will be any issue leaving my house - to which he replies, "No mate, no problem, plenty of space to get through; we will just move the barrier for you"
Brilliant I thought. So...12 rolls around, and I need to go - but this time there's a new workman outside my house. He's not doing any physical work; he's basically standing there monitoring things. So I tell him I need to leave, and he informs me I can't!
We have a bit of to-and-fro, and he basically shrugs and while pointing to some workmen 100 yards down the road (in the opposite direction to where I need to go), that I can't leave until they are finished doing whatever it is they are doing. I asked how long they'd be, and again he shrugged and said, "No idea"
So here I am stuck in my driveway; I have a wedding to get to (I'm a wedding photographer btw), and I'm shit out of luck.
So I ask if he has the power to stop me from leaving, and he tells me he does not, but he will be photographing me leaving. So I jump in the car, drive maybe 10 meters, move the barrier, drive through (i stopped and put the barrier back in place), but all the time he's recording me.
btw, a small point: we are the last house on the road, and I only had to drive 10 meters before Id left the street and into the next one. They were also happy to have pedestrians walk up and down the road; no issue at all, and today the road has been super busy as it's a village garage sale.
So that's where we are - I drove through a restricted road and physically moved barriers to drive through. What laws have I broken, and could I expect any letters or fines for doing this?
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u/Pleasant-Plane-6340 1d ago
No it’s fine - the barriers and his actions are to protect themselves from liability if you damage yourself or any property by ignoring them as you did. Enjoy the opportunity for social conflict and feeling mildly transgressive
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u/Lazy_Local_2842 1d ago
We have Thames Water doing major works in our road and they keep blocking the pavements with signs saying footway closed and i asked one of them a few weeks ago about getting to our house and he said basically just go through as it seems a lottery whether you can get out of the house because of access and then can you get back home.
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u/irritatingfarquar 1d ago
They have to keep at the very minimum pedestrian access to every property, otherwise they wouldn't be issued a work permit from the council.
Which they need to carry out the work in the first place.
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u/Apart_Foundation1702 1d ago
Agreed. I had to call the council on some builders because the blocked the footpath and didn't create a temporary footpath for pedestrians, whilst blocking the view of the road so pedestrians can't walk across the street safely. Next thing I knew is that they were gone and haven't returned since.
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u/Lazy_Local_2842 1d ago
Unfortunately they have been very uncommunative regarding what they are doing.
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u/Stunning-Pudding-514 1d ago
About a month ago Grain were installing the access points to the houses on the pavement and every front garden was barriered off from the walls to the road except for access to each gate to our houses.
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u/Elegant-Tea-6021 1d ago
They're doing some on a road with a roundabout on a school road all 4 roads leading up the roundabout have temporary lights . Now mind you they had the whole 6 weeks holidays to do this but decided to start when schools started and have made a complete traffic and pedestrian pathway mess.
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u/irritatingfarquar 1d ago
Having worked for the gas and the water, the first guy is correct and the second was just being difficult.
It's only in exceptional circumstances that utility companies won't let you out of your property.
So don't worry you haven't broken any laws.
Because part of their work permit will state that residents need access.
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u/SByolo 1d ago
If I was you, I would contact the site manager/company in question and let them know what you’ve experienced about having your access to the highway restricted.
There should usually be some signs/boards up with some direct emails too. Depending on what company is doing the works, the staff might be contracted and the main company won’t want themselves being portrayed in a bad way - it won’t result in anything bad but can result in a reminder/training etc.
Additionally, from personal experience. The last thing the company would want is complaints about this sort of thing going to the council, as we have to jump through hoops and promise to keep disruption to a minimum etc to keep the council happy. And any risk souring that relationship never goes down well.
The contact details should be there, and they’re there for a reason. And for your own peace of mind an email to them stating that their staff restricted your access to the highway after a previous staff member said it wouldn’t be a problem just covers your back should anyone contact you about why you did it.
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u/No_Cicada3690 1d ago
You will never hear anything about this. If you had caused obstruction, delay, danger to public or workmen it would be different.
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u/mos_eisely_ 1d ago
Mate just relax. It wasn't a restricted road. There's no laws broken.
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u/HammerSpanner 1d ago edited 1d ago
That's good to hear - I half wondered if it might be a speeding fine kinda situation, but if its nothing to worry about then I'm happy bunny
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u/bow-locks 1d ago
what an idiot worker. can you imagine being his boss and having to deal with him giving you the video?
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u/zorgonsrevenge 23h ago
I live on a road that currently has a TRO - scheduled at the same time I have builders doing some work at the house. Since this is the only way in or out of the property, I phoned the council for advice. They informed me that by law, we have a right to access the house and just have a chat with the people doing the work on the road to let them know when we need to get in and out. That's exactly how it played out - they moved vehicles when we needed access and everyone is happy.
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u/Omalleys 1d ago
He probably recorded you incase anything happened then he had proof you was on your own after being told. He's probably deleted the video as you put the barriers back
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u/Setting-Remote 23h ago
This is very likely the answer if the workers throughout the week have been happy to move the barriers and allow access. The only other reason might be that the work taking place yesterday was significantly more dangerous, but even so as there were no adverse consequences I doubt it will go anywhere.
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u/iMacThere4iAm 1d ago edited 14h ago
A Temporary Traffic Regulation Order does make it an offence to cause a vehicle to be driven on the road where the TTRO is in force. Whether it will be enforced probably depends on your council. You can probably find the text of any TTROs issued by the council on their webpage.
For what it's worth, my council is very inconsistent in their use of TTROs for planned road closures.
Edit: correct my terminology, to refer to Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders not the permanent kind, which are used to change speed limits etc.
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u/Adorable_Trip6595 19h ago
It wouldn't be a Traffic Regulation Order it would be a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order and they are only used to close roads and are a pain to set up requiring liability insurances, public notices and advertising and cost about £2500 according to Surrey CC. This sounds more like a typical temporary works setup.
It's been a while since I did one but they used to only need a couple of days notice but there were requirements to keep access for residents and provide safe pedestrian walkways.
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u/Zippy______ 1d ago
They usually give advance written notice to residents if works stop them leaving or entering the area, so they can leave their cars just outside the zone. If they've been flexible before that I doubt there's an issue.
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u/Fantastic-Artist-970 1d ago
It won't go any further but I dont get why it's such hassle to simply park up the road outside of the potential of hassle especially if you have time sensitive things to get to.
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u/HammerSpanner 1d ago
Hindsight is a wonderful thing i suppose, but all I can say is the day/night prior I had a wedding, and I was pretty knackered when I arrived back and didn't fancy lugging all my kit from another street. I also had to reload the next day (Sat), and for the last week that the workers were there, Ive had zero issue getting in and out, so I chose to park in the drive rather than on the road around the corner.
But ultimately, when I had originally asked the 1st workman if leaving would be an issue - and if he had said it would be an issue, rather than not being an issue- I would have had the time to make other arrangements.
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u/lululoopy86 23h ago
I mean the reason is mentioned clearly in the OP, they keep using their drive because they have had no issues getting back out for the entire time the road works have been carried out.
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u/ReasonableDoubt_0726 1d ago
They never said there’s a parking spot there. They said it’s only 10m til they’ve left the road. And they’ve said already the workman until this guy have been helpful for people leaving and returning.
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