A mum has taken to the internet to vent her fury after neighbour built a massive bin hub against their shared boundary - leaving her feeling "extremely stressed".
Taking to popular online forum Mumsnet, the woman asked if she was unreasonable after sharing an image of the bin platform, that she claims could let burglars use her garden.
Talking to her husband abut the situation, she was told there was nothing that could be done and that the couple would simply have to put up with it. But it's not quite the answer she wanted to hear.
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She explains: "My house is end terrace and next door's front garden shares a fence with our back boundary. I don't know who the fence belongs to. Next door has been a state for years but they've started smartening it up a bit recently and have made their front garden into a drive (ignoring the fact they don't have a dropped kerb but never mind).
"All fine except they've now built a whopping great bin store up against the shared boundary which is essentially a massive, stable, platform for would-be-burglars to climb up onto and hop into our garden!
"Given my previous house not far from here was end terrace and we were burgled using exactly this route in - standing on bins to get over the fence, and then obviously in through a door - I'm feeling extremely stressed about this. DP [dear partner] - who is normally a massive curtain twitching complaint lodger (whereas I'm normally live and let live) is being infuriatingly calm about it and says there's nothing we can do and that I'm being ridiculous.
"Technically it's an illegal construction unless they have planning permission (no way they do given they made a driveway without a dropped kerb) as it's in the front garden, so I could complain to the council. Would that be unreasonable?
"So as not to drip feed, they have form for this themselves as they previously complained to the council about DP making excessive DIY noise in the garden which upset him so much he's barely picked up a tool since. If they'd just come and knocked on the door he'd have packed it in happily.
"I could go and knock on their door but I can't see them taking it down as it won't have been cheap to build and then if I complain to the council they'll know it was me (yes, they probably will anyway but still). What can I do so I don't fall out with the neighbours but also so I can sleep at night??"
The post quickly gathered a lot of attention from those also on the website with nearly 150 comments with other giving their take on what to do - or not to do.
In response one said: "I'm pretty sure if someone wanted to burgle your home, they wouldn’t be standing scratching their heads about how to hop over your fence unless there was a bin shed there."
Another commented: "I assume you have no gate, path or other means of access to your own home? You'd be ludicrous to report on the basis of someone potentially jumping a fence."
"It’s a shed, not “an illegal construction” they would not require planning permission for it, bearing in mind you can add an extension to your home without planning permission if it’s less than 10% of the footprint of your original building.
"Make sure you have good locks, decent windows, strong doors, maybe a motion sensor operated outdoor light and some security cameras. You could paint some anti vandal paint on your side if your fence or pop some barbed/razor wire there, even ask the local police to call around and offer advice. You can’t expect your neighbours to remove their bin shed." wrote a third.
A fourth also added: "I don't see the problem really - a burglar would just stand on the bin itself to jump your fence if the bin store wasn't there and the bin store looks better."
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