As anyone who lives in a house without a driveway will know, roadside parking is a free-for-all and it can sometimes be a nightmare to find a suitable place to park your car that's directly outside of your property.
Unfortunately, that's just the way things are - as roadside parking is public and you're not entitled to the space outside of your house unless you have a designated disabled bay as marked by your local council.
But one mum has claimed her neighbour has taken matters into their own hands when it comes to being left without a parking space, as they've been leaving their wheelie bin in the road in front of their house so that they have a guaranteed spot when they need it.
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In a post on Mumsnet, the woman said: "A neighbour on a very busy row of terraced houses with parking on both sides is popping her wheelie bin in the road for what we can only assume is to save a parking space.
"The first time we parked [our car] behind it and left it as we thought we wouldn't get involved and there was also one other free space. It's a busy road, I regularly park up to 0.3 miles away during peak hours. But today her bin was blocking the only remaining parking space on our bit of road, it was directly outside my house so I got out and moved it.
"I put the bin in front of her house. Her neighbour had just parked a little further up the road when we arrived so they had clearly not attempted to move it but parked up the road out of their way to avoid it."
The mum went on to claim that her neighbour has been doing the trick with her bin for a few days, and is now wondering if it's "common practice" to save spaces on roads.
She added: "I've not seen or heard from her yet and her bin is still where I left it. We've lived here a little while and she's only just started doing it, but twice in a couple of days. Is she being a cheeky f***ing neighbour or is this common practice? It's annoyed me as you can tell!"
Commenters on the Mumsnet post - which has recently resurfaced after being posted in 2017 - were in agreement that her neighbour shouldn't be putting anything in the road to save parking space, with many of them stating that public roads are free for anyone to park their vehicle on.
One person said: "Unless she has a designated disabled space then she can't just declare a part of the road as hers! It's a public road. Anyone can park right outside her house and she can't do anything about it. Keep moving the bin."
While another added: "She leaves it, you move it, she leaves it, you move it, till she gets the message. You cannot save a spot."
And a third said: "You absolutely did the right thing. There's no way I'd be letting a bin on the road stop me from parking."
What are the rules around saving parking spaces?
The Mirror previously reported that the police are keen to remind people that it's not "your right" to park in front of your house unless you have a designated parking space.
We also said at the time that the law around street parking states that unless your street is governed by residents' parking permits, any member of the public can park in your street - as long as they are complying with restrictions, and not causing obstructions.
Wheelie bins and traffic cones are among the items most commonly used to try and save parking spaces, but councils have said that doing so is "not permitted" and while you're unlikely to incur a fine as a result, councils will move the obstructing objects if necessary.
In 2017, Councillor Vernon Smith - who at the time was the cabinet member for highways at Gloucestershire County Council - said: “Blocking the road with traffic cones or wheelie bins is dangerous, no matter the reason behind it. We have had complaints about this and we address it straight away by visiting the area and speaking with residents.
“If residents do have genuine issues with parking, then we can talk through the options with them.”
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