Disabed dad’s parking dispute
HE CLAIMS HIS NEIGHBOUR HAS BEEN HARASSING HIM
A DISABLED Derbyshire man claims he feels harassed and targeted by his next-door neighbour, who refuses to let him park on his driveway.
Ean Burns, 54, has a debilitating condition called Menieres Disease, which affects his balance and at its worst can leave him unable to walk.
The Alfreton dad claims his neighbour “purposefully” blocks his driveway with her car, leaving him unable to park in front of his house.
Mr Burns claims he is forced to park somewhere else, leaving him in a vulnerable position should he be feeling unwell.
He moved into the property in February after searching for a place with two bedroom to accommodate his 11-year-old daughter when she stays for the weekends.
Mr Burns, a blue badge holder, claims: “Next door have commandeered the parking area outside and it blocks my driveway.
“It’s been like this for months, they just won’t move their cars. Once in a blue moon I can get my car in but they make it very difficult to get my car out.
“They block me because it’s not a criminal offence, it’s just in the Highway Code. I’ve asked them so many times, I just can’t understand why it’s such an issue. All I want to do is park on my own drive”
According to a letter sent to Mr Burns from Amber Valley Borough Council, the pavement in front of his and his neighbour’s house belongs in part to the council and to the Highways Authority.
When Mr Burns moved into Arthur Street a few months ago, he said the driveway was only equipped with a pedestrian entrance.
He said whoever had lived there before had built a wall across the driveway to enable a pedestrian gate to be put in, where there had previously been a double-gated entrance.
Because of his condition, he says he needs to be able to park on his drive and so asked his landlord, Futures Homes, for permission to reinstate the vehicle entrance on the drive. In a letter to Mr Burns, Future Homes granted him permission to knock down the wall on his drive.
He says: “I don’t really understand what the problem is about letting me park in my own driveway, I knocked a four-foot section of wall down on my land to get the car in.
“My driveway doesn’t affect hers at all, they are totally separate. I think she is just used to being able to park where she wants.
“It did work for about a week, we all got in and out fine, then she just decided I wasn’t having access and started blocking me out.
“It has been getting me down, I feel helpless, there’s nothing I can do. It’s such a simple thing I just want to park on my own drive, it’s infuriating, I’ve never known anything like it.”
Alison Cope, owner of Don’s Taxis in Alfreton, is Mr Burns’ next-door neighbour and says she has permission to have two taxis “sat outside my house”.
Ms Cope claims she is “completely within the law” by parking in front of Mr Burns’ driveway and blocking him because she has right of way.
“I’ve not got much comment other than to say that he shouldn’t be on the drive anyway and I don’t know what disability he has.
“He fitted his own driveway and did the heavy lifting so he looks healthy to me.
“I have planning permission for having two taxis outside my house because I maintain the drive, the drive is my right of way.
“I’m blocking him out, not blocking him in, which is quite legal, it’s a private car blocking him out of his drive and the drive is my right of way.
“His story falls flat on its face, I’ve had solicitors onto it, he won’t be using his drive for much longer because when I prove my right of way he’ll have to block it up again.”
Ms Cope claims there “isn’t a shortage of parking spaces” on the street and that she parks in front of his driveway because “it’s always been mine”.