Neighbour sparks outrage after ‘reserving’ parking spot with ‘infuriating’ traffic cones

The driver was blasted online after they attempting to reserve a parking space near their home using traffic cones they had placed in the middle of the residential road

When you live in a busy street with limited parking spaces, it can be tempting to try and reserve a spot. Unfortunately, there’s often little drivers can do legally to secure a space.

Well, it appears one homeowner took it upon themselves to leave out traffic cones in the middle of a street – much to the annoyance of neighbours who spotted the wrongful attempt to save a car space.

Posting to Reddit, one such neighbour shared a photo showing the driver’s devious plan – and it turned out several homeowners have faced a similar problem. In the snap captioned “neighbour’s decided to save parking spaces,” two traffic cones can be seen a car’s width apart in the road.

In response, homeowners were quick to blast the driver and share their similar experiences. One commenter wrote: “Our neighbours moved in and spray painted ‘no parking’ on a space outside their house, it’s fair to say it didn’t go down well with the rest of the street or their landlord.

Another shared: “Best advice I’ve heard when someone self proclaims street space: tell them that’s a great idea, you’d like to do it too – who did they ratify it with at the council? So it can be enforceable and legally theirs.”

Someone else revealed: “Someone did this near my house when there was a local event on with her wheely bins. Some old lady in a tiny car parked perfectly between the 2 as I walked by. the woman trying to block the road was staring out of the window with such anger, absolute legend that old lady.”

And a different commenter claimed: “Had a couple who thought that the space outside across the road from their house was their space. It was not, it was just normal on street parking. A friend parked his car there and we called back to find it keyed.

“But they had not just keyed his car, they had also called the police. And explained to the police how they had helped police the area by keying the car. They were absolutely gobsmacked to be the ones in trouble. In their heads them wanting to save the empty spot in case they had visitors was an obvious right.”

Meanwhile, others debated how they would respond if the same happened to them. “Free cones, mate,” read one reply. Another person said they wouldn’t mind if the cones were being used to reserve a space for a moving van or skip delivery, but said they would be annoyed if it was a regular occurrence. Someone else agreed: “Now I’m very chill about what my neighbours may or may not do, but this would infuriate me.”

Regardless of their neighbours’ feelings, drivers who leave cones in the road also put themselves at risk legally. Under the Highways Act 1980, it is an offence to obstruct the highway without permission from the local highway authority.

Do you agree? Let us know in the comments