On trespass,trespasser ,rights and duties------
Your home may be your castle but the law demands that you also take the right steps and behave responsibly when dealing with trespassers and other unwanted intrusions on to your property.
Trespass is defined as the unauthorised interference with the possession of your home and garden. The law says you have the right to decide what is left on your property, as well as the right to keep people out.
Most people protect their homes and gardens by building a fence, for which you won't normally need planning permission unless it is more than two metres high.
Signs that read "Trespassers will be prosecuted" are meaningless as you cannot be prosecuted for trespass - it is a civil wrong, not a criminal offence. It's therefore more accurate to have a sign that reads: "Keep out - private property. You are trespassing."
Reasonable force
If someone trespasses on your property despite due warning the practical remedy is to ask them to leave. If they don't you are entitled to use no more than reasonable force to eject the trespasser.
The right to use reasonable force has evolved through case law and there is no single answer as to what is reasonable - it will always depend on the prevailing circumstances.
However, you are not entitled to assault or harm a trespasser in any way. In the infamous Tony Martin case, for example, it was obviously unreasonable for him to shoot dead a teenager who had entered his remote farmhouse with the intention of committing theft.
In another case, a man who found a trespasser up a low ladder leaned against his house shook and overturned the ladder throwing the intruder to the ground. Although the trespasser was not injured, the judge said even this amount of force was unreasonable.
Contrary to what most people think, homeowners actually owe a duty of care to trespassers to ensure they do not come to any harm, which means if there is a hazard on your property you might reasonably be expected to offer some protection. And you mustn't lay traps to put off trespassers or you could be liable for a claim for compensation.
For adult trespassers, in most cases the duty of care will be met if you put up a fence and display a notice warning of the danger. But children might not be able to read and understand the notice, so if you know they trespass on your land you shouldn't, for example, leave sharp tools or toxic weed killer lying around. If the children play with these things and hurt themselves you might have to pay compensation for their injuries.
As above so below
Trespass does not only occur when people enter your land without permission - it can also arise when somebody places something on your land, such as when a car is left in your driveway. And if creepers or other plants are growing on the face of your wall, from roots in your neighbour's property, this is also technically a trespass.
You could take action if this creeper is likely to cause damage to the wall of your property, and you are entitled to cut it off. Someone dumping rubbish against your house wall is also trespass, as is throwing stones or rocks into your garden.
Trespass is not just confined to interference with your home and garden, but also extends to the airspace above and the soil below. So, for example, it would be a trespass to tunnel beneath your garden, and if someone put up an advertising sign that projects over your property, it would also be an actionable trespass.
If your neighbour's tree has branches that overhang into your garden then the law allows you to cut them off, but you must not go beyond the boundary line and you must give the cut branches back to your neighbour.
Be careful about firing up the chainsaw though, as the tree may be subject to a preservation order leaving you liable to the local authority for causing damage to a protected tree.
The forbidden fruit
Although it's OK to cut down an overhanging branch, it is not OK to pick fruit from it without your neighbour's permission. By law, the fruit belongs to your neighbour, as does any fruit that falls onto your land from your neighbour's tree.
If a tree affects the amount of light you receive but its branches do not overhang your property, you probably cannot make the tree owner do anything about it - there is no general right to light. That is unless there is a prescriptive right to light acquired through uninterrupted use for 20 years, or because you have applied to acquire the right to light through your local authority.
However, if your neighbour has a massive leylandii hedge that blocks your light and drains your garden soil of moisture rendering your garden unfit for growing plants, you may well be able to take advantage of the new
High Hedges Law 2005. Under this legislation local authorities have the power to enter your neighbour's property to cut down hedges that cause a nuisance.
To do this, however, you will need to show that your neighbour's hedge is comprised of two or more evergreens that are more than two metres high without significant gaps between the trees or shrubs forming the hedge.
Your complaint should be made to your local authority only after you have tried to resolve the matter amicably with your neighbour - your local authority may also charge a fee for investigating the matter on your behalf,