A furious family was caught up in a ‘legal minefield’ after returning from holiday - only to find a car parked on their driveway.

Kieran and Danielle Luxton left their home for a four day break and the following morning were told a car had appeared on their land.

It was still there when they got back which meant they were unable to park their own car and despite their best efforts were unable to locate the owner.

After being told by the police there was nothing they could because it was a civil matter as it was parked on private land and the vehicle was not registered as stolen, they posted a picture of the car on Facebook page Exmouth Community UK in the hope someone would recognise the car, Devon Live reports .

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This happened in July this year.

By looking up the licence plate, one social media user was able to confirm the vehicle was up to date with its MoT and tax but had no insurance, however, the owner was not located.

Kieran and Danielle then discovered it was illegal for them to park behind the car because it was blocking it in and the only other options available to them was either pursing the matter through the civil courts or paying to have the car professionally pulled off their driveway.

However, the law states if the car is damaged during its removal the Luxton’s would be liable for it.

Kieran, a dad of one with another child on the way, said: “It was an awful situation. I thought you could just ring the police and they would speak to who owned it when they tracked them down, but they don’t do that.

“I was told we couldn’t block it in as it’s illegal and if you pay someone to pull it off your land any damage done you are liable to pay for it. Had we taken it to court we would have had to pay court fees.

“I was shocked as I expected there to be some sort of law to help with matters like this as I assumed it would be trespassing. As it is classed as a civil matter the police can’t do anything about it. I was told by them more and more of these incidents are going on.

“We managed to get a friend who is in the trade to pull it off our land two days ago so it cost us £30 instead of more than £100 which is what we had been quoted.

 “It was pulled onto council owned grass next to my driveway and the next morning it had gone.”


Getting a vehicle removed from private land can potentially be an involved matter. However, police suggest the following:

If the vehicle is in a dangerous condition e.g. it's leaking petrol or contains dangerous items such as gas bottles, we would suggest you contact your local police via the non-emergency 101 number or 999 if an emergency response is required.

If you think the vehicle is abandoned, the police suggest you contact your local council by pressing here .

Councils must remove abandoned vehicles from both land in the open air and roads (including private roads). However, local council policies differ in relation to this so we would suggest you discuss the matter with them - it may help if you speak with a manager.

If the vehicle isn't abandoned or in a dangerous condition, you will need to seek legal guidance from a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau .

The options here would be to either get a court order from a civil court for the removal of the vehicle or pursue a civil action for nuisance against the driver/owner of the vehicle.

However, taking legal action can be a long and potentially expensive process but you may have some cover in relation to this on your house insurance.

Points to note

Under no circumstances would the police advocate you merely pushing the vehicle onto a road and leaving it there, as you may commit an offence.



'Legal minefield'

The 24-year-old says he has since seen the car parked up on a public road in another street, but still does not know who it belongs to.

Kieran, who is a production assistant analyst at the Met Office, said: “I’m just glad it’s gone as day by day I was getting more and more frustrated. My wife was more angry than me which she didn’t need as she is heavily pregnant.

“I would definitely say people need to read up on what they can and can’t do because it is a legal minefield so you have to be careful.”

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