I put a ‘do not park’ sign outside my house. Is it legal? DEAN DUNHAM

I live on a private road next to a popular beach. 

In the summer, when the car park is full, we get chancers trying to park outside our houses. 

If I’m expecting visitors, I ask tourists not to park there and I sometimes get abuse. 

Can I put up a no parking sign and traffic cones outside my own house?

Name and address supplied

Nuisance: A reader is fed up with beachgoers parking outside their house during the summer months and wants to know if it is legal to put up a no parking sign (file picture)

Dean Dunham KC replies: Living next to a beach can be wonderful, until the summer crowds arrive and every spare patch of road becomes a potential parking space.

Private roads are those not controlled or maintained by the local council but instead by the people who live there.

This gives them greater rights over how they can be used. Some allow the public to walk and drive down them, which sounds like the case on your street, while others do not, and block access with gates.

The answer depends on one crucial fact: who owns the road and the land outside your house? 

Some homeowners own the land outside their property, while in other cases it belongs to another individual, a management company or all the residents jointly. 

Details are set out in the homes’ тιтle deeds or in Land Registry records.

If you alone own the land outside your home, you can usually erect a sign stating that parking is not permitted or that the area is private. 

The sign doesn’t create your legal rights, but it makes motorists aware that parking without permission may amount to trespᴀss and often deters would-be parkers without confrontation.

Traffic cones require a little more caution. You can generally place cones on land you own to discourage parking, provided they do not obstruct anyone else’s legal right of way or interfere with access. 

However, you should not place cones on land you don’t own or on any public highway.

If someone ignores the signs and parks anyway, resist the temptation to take matters into your own hands. 

You should never block the vehicle in, clamp it or arrange for it to be towed away yourself, as this could expose you to legal liability. 

In practice, a polite sign and, where possible, a co-ordinated approach with neighbours or any residents’ management company is often the most effective solution.

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Conned out of H๏τel air con

I booked a holiday to Majorca using an online travel agent. The H๏τel didn’t have air conditioning, even though the listing said it did. 

It was very warm and I couldn’t sleep, so I complained to the H๏τel manager, who said it never had air conditioning. 

The agent says it was a mistake and that it can’t do anything.

D.P., Ledbury

Dean Dunham KC replies: Let me reᴀssure you straight away: ‘It was a mistake, there’s nothing we can do’ is not an answer your travel agent is enтιтled to give. 

It is firmly on the hook here. The starting point is that the listing formed part of your contract.

When you booked on the strength of a H๏τel described as having air conditioning, that became part of what you paid for.

A H๏τel without it means the holiday simply wasn’t as described. An honest ‘mistake’ is no defence, as a trader is responsible for the accuracy of what it advertises, whether the error was deliberate or careless.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services must match their description. When they fall short, you are enтιтled to a remedy – here, a price reduction reflecting the gap between what was promised and what you got.

Separately, under the Package Travel Regulations 2018, which apply if you booked a package such as flights and H๏τel together, the organiser is liable for elements not as described or falling below standard, regardless of where fault lies.

Air conditioning in a Majorcan summer goes to the heart of whether you could rest and enjoy your stay.

Disturbed sleep is a real and compensable loss. Put a claim in writing to the agent. State the room was mis-described, cite the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Package Travel Regulations if relevant, and request proportionate compensation.

Attach the original listing showing air con, plus pH๏τos or booking paperwork.

If they stonewall, check whether the agent belongs to industry body ABTA, and escalate. Do not accept that brush-off!

Can Dean Dunham help you? 

Do you have a legal question for Dean Dunham? Email d.dunham@dailymail.co.uk, with brief details of your question or problem. 

No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail and This is Money for answers given. 

> Read all of our consumer rights expert Dean Dunham’s previous columns 

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