I am having no-end of problems with "prowlers", cutting through my back garden, mainly in the early hours of the morning...

There is no legitimate reason for them to be on my property:- there is no actual "through" route, as there is fencing all around, and they are having to climb over the neighbours' fences to get out.

What are my rights about blocking off the gate etc? ( E.G. padlocking it?)

providing its not a right of way and then even then you could with permission of the neighbours.

I think (and I might be wrong so check) that even if there is a right of way over the property as long as you gve a key to whoever should have right of way you would be able to lock the gate.

I don't understand?

Of course you can padlock and secure your own property.

broken glass on top of the fencing and barb wire in the bushes and of course the previous tenant did it !

Try a 'Beware of the Dog' notice.

Do you still live in the same place? From memory I can't think of anywhere anyone could go to through the rear of your property? Don't want to scare you, but it's more likely they're actually 'casing the joint' isn't it?

I'd get a tall locked gate on sharpish if I were you. You'll probably have to get permission from the landlord first though. They might even do it for you if you ask them nicely?

Do you still live in the same place? From memory I can't think of anywhere anyone could go to through the rear of your property? Don't want to scare you, but it's more likely they're actually 'casing the joint' isn't it?

I'd get a tall locked gate on sharpish if I were you. You'll probably have to get permission from the landlord first though. They might even do it for you if you ask them nicely?

As an end-terrace, there is a sort of "alley" beside my place which trespassers have, in the past, (and, it would seem, currently!) used to "prowl" round the back, then apparently, hopping over the fence into neighbouring gardens. basically I want to stop 'em off, and only allow legitimate access onto the back. (gardener, window cleaner etc)

I've had at least five incidences since February of someone trespassing, and I am getting really annoyed (not to mention quite concerned!) about it. (two of which I called the police for, as I actually heard them pratting-about with bins and gates etc)

it is my intention to put a full-sized (height), full-width gate across the access, ASAP. I just need one that isn't climb-able, and is small-dog proof WRT gaps between the bars.

Try a 'Beware of the Dog' notice.

I have two dogs, one of whom (the older one) is an excellent "house-dog". it's generally been him that's alerted me to the presence of someone trespassing.

Trouble is these bold so-and-so's are not bothered it'd seem, by the presence of a dog.

Get a tall gate. Thats what we ended up doing after we had some solar lights nicked from the back garden. We bought a 7 foot wooden panelled gate from Hillsborough Fencing. Now no one can get into the back garden unless we let them in.

What an unpleasant situation PT. A high powered security flood light with a motion sensor usually puts them off and is relatively cheap if you can find a friendly face to fit it.

many thanks for your suggestions, everyone.

I'm just hacked off, that I can't call "my" land "my own", and not have some scroate(s) trespassing on it.

I've got my ideas about what's happening, (and who it might be) but it's

a) proving it and

b) catching them at it.

I am so angry, that, if it were up to me, I'd like it to be be a metal fence, with a few thousand volts running through it when the scroate(s) try to climb it.

try a cctv camera with a floodlight, something along these lines http://www.lighting-direct.co.uk/cctv-300w-maxicam-pir-floodlight-p-4918.html though i'm not sure if that one records.

As an end-terrace, there is a sort of "alley" beside my place which trespassers have, in the past, (and, it would seem, currently!) used to "prowl" round the back, then apparently, hopping over the fence into neighbouring gardens. basically I want to stop 'em off, and only allow legitimate access onto the back. (gardener, window cleaner etc)


Is it one of those situations where your neighbours in the terrace have a legal right to use the alley to get to their property? Or is it exclusively yours?

Vince

Is it one of those situations where your neighbours in the terrace have a legal right to use the alley to get to their property? Or is it exclusively yours?

Vince

No the access is exclusively mine. There has been a gate, in the past, "hacked out" of the fence, by other tenants, but the fences are supposed to be solid, along the boundary.

Well if the land belongs to you, and there are no covenants or other restrictions forcing you to give anybody access, then put in whatever gates and locks you want!

If you do not legally have to offer access to the space for others then I think I'd be fitting exactly what I have across the entry here- it's 6' high, it's metal with big spikes on top, attached firmly to the wall so it's not coming off and it's got a decent lock on it.

I also got a sign which says 'caution, dogs running free' rather than 'beware of the dog' so that I'm not legally implying that my dog is of a temperament of which people should be scared.

I got a quote for a spiky metal fence, the other day, but it's going to prove expensive, if I go down that route:- a couple of grand or so. :wow: If I didn't need the side-gate for access to my own back door, I'd be nailing that blimmin thing shut, too!

broken glass on top of the fencing and barb wire in the bushes and of course the previous tenant did it !

Thorny plants are a more attractive alternative that don't (as far as I know) have legal issues if someone gets hurt. :)

Thorny plants are a more attractive alternative that don't (as far as I know) have legal issues if someone gets hurt. :)

An electric fence.

Broken glass plastered into a wall or gte, unseeable untila hand goes on

They do it because you're an easy target, become a hard target and they'll find another house

An electric fence.

Broken glass plastered into a wall or gte, unseeable untila hand goes on

They do it because you're an easy target, become a hard target and they'll find another house

and yet again, unhelpful and potentially costly advice.

There are laws, I know, about how high a fence has to be before it's permitted to be topped with hazards such as those, and the warning signage that is mandatory if you are using them.

If the fence is topped with unseen glass / nails / barbed wire etc, I'm laying myself open to be sued by anyone who injures themselves, trespassers or no.

PT - how tall is your fence currently? if it's not over six foot you should be able to add something less climbable to the top of it, such as a cheap flimsy unframed trellis (keep replacement pieces). Pyracantha and japonica can be grown as climbers which don't take up as much space as hedging shrubs such as berberris

there are also rubber spikes you can get from screwfix which are uncomfortable to climb but don't cause injury

you can't sensibly have a 'beware of the dog' sign, as if you're taken to court for a dog bite, this can be used as evidence that you know your dog is a problem!

you could fit a motion sensor alarm outside - but I don't know how effective it'd be

if nobody needs right of way across your land, then get your gate locked!

oh, and really, pointy railings need to be of an unclimbable height for the same reason as glass topped walls do:(

and yet again, unhelpful and potentially costly advice.

There are laws, I know, about how high a fence has to be before it's permitted to be topped with hazards such as those, and the warning signage that is mandatory if you are using them.

If the fence is topped with unseen glass / nails / barbed wire etc, I'm laying myself open to be sued by anyone who injures themselves, trespassers or no.


It was said tongue in cheek!!

PT - how tall is your fence currently? if it's not over six foot you should be able to add something less climbable to the top of it, such as a cheap flimsy unframed trellis (keep replacement pieces). Pyracantha and japonica can be grown as climbers which don't take up as much space as hedging shrubs such as berberris

there are also rubber spikes you can get from screwfix which are uncomfortable to climb but don't cause injury

you can't sensibly have a 'beware of the dog' sign, as if you're taken to court for a dog bite, this can be used as evidence that you know your dog is a problem!

you could fit a motion sensor alarm outside - but I don't know how effective it'd be if nobody needs right of way across your land, then get your gate locked!

oh, and really, pointy railings need to be of an unclimbable height for the same reason as glass topped walls do:(

Hi Strix.

There's a twofold issue:- one is the trespasser(s), and the second is ensuring it's safe and "dog-proof/ escape-proof" for the hound-dogs.

On the left hand side of the garden, and across the bottom boundary there's a decent-height, nice, solid fence (about 5') but the gate and the Right hand side fence are only about 3 feet high. Destruct-o-pup can jump approx that height, and I want the fence raising anyway, for her safety. (to pre-empt her realising that she could form a one-dog escape committee :hihi: Old-dog could jump vertically, but in all his fifteen years, bless him, he has never twigged that he could have combined the upward motion with a forward one, and leapt the fence! I have the feeling that pup will be a bit "wider" than that).

I had a sign that read "Caution, Terriers running free!" on the gate, but someone broke it off.

I was thinking of "installing" some pyrocantha, as well, as they are natural deterrents.

I don't know about sensors. They mayn't be the best idea as hounds and cats, etc might set them off inadvertently. (and annoy me and the neighbours! *gulp* )

right, so you've got space to install some annoyingly tangly trellis across the top then :D

and you can replace that gate with something taller (didn't that get sorted last year? )

Pyrocantha is a horrid pain if you don't keep it trimmed, but it's great for the job if you keep it under control!

if you had a sensor, it'd have to be positioned not to take in anything at ground level , so only maybe tripped at 3 or 4' above ground level

ROFL at the idea of a dog who's not figured out how to jump forwards :hihi: