Stones on grass verge

[Mike25]

Is this illegal?
I have a grass verge in front of my house about a metre wide, opposite is a field entrance. Tractors park on the grass verge and when swinging into the field they rip it to shreds. I maintain the verge and keep the grass low, i had to buy a strimmer because my lawnmower can't go over it anymore due to the shape they leave it in every summer. When they leave some areas the grass is gone and they leave muck instead.
Can I put large stones down cemented into the ground, with reflective paint to warn drivers or is this illegal? I can't speak to the farmers as they are never around to do so.

[murraymints]

if it is not your land..NO ..you can't..speak to council about doing it..

[Mike25]

It may not be my land but i maintain it to make it look good because it reflects on my house. Everytime I drive down a country land I see other people with the stones on there verge.
Actually I could claim its my land as other people have kerbed right out to the road.

[maggiebee]

Do you know who "owns" the verge? Assuming it is your local council I would be tempted to approach them and explain the situation. You are doing the maintenance of the verge so they might be disposed to allowing you to place stones there. Could the tractors turn into the field without using the verge or is the road too narrow? Compromise the best way forward for all concerned.

[sunny-dave]

If it is definitely your land then you can do what you want with it (stone bollards or fence it even).

If not, then be very careful - if I hit a stone (however well painted) on a public verge and knew that you'd put it there, I'd sue your proverbials off.

< as an aside - why must people endlessly "tidy up verges" in rural areas - I can understand doing the one on your own side of the road, but there seems to be a trend to doing the one opposite as well - let it grow and be available for wildlife & wild flowers - a simple trim once a year is all that is necessary >

[Mike25]

The road is narrow, somethime they hit the verge sometimes they don't depending on who is driving. Yesterday they hit the telephone pole on the verge although they just nicked it. The younger drivers fly up the road, i doubt they have a lience.

[spotit3]

No, you are not permitted to put stones or anything else on these verges. They are there for safety reasons, if for example a vehicle has to veer off road to avoid a collision or allow a wide load to pass. If anyone had a vehicle damaged or was injured by one of your stones you would be held responsible and could be sued.

[murraymints]

go canny Mike..you could end up in bother if you just take it upon yourself to do anything..whether or not you maintain it..it is still not your land !!

[tamborine]

You could ask/pay the farmer to move their entrance. If its not your land you have no rights on it.

[Mike25]

"If anyone had a vehicle damaged or was injured by one of your stones you would be held responsible and could be sued."

But I see other people with these stones on their verges, if i was to damage my car on one of them, how could i prove they put them there! They would say i was driving carelessly in the first place and shouldn't be on the verge.

[ChuckFickens]

"Service strips (or verges) are 2.0m wide strips of adopted land, which normally extend from the edge of a shared surface into adjacent private gardens. They are provided to accommodate equipment belonging to service providers, such as water, electricity, gas, telephone and street lighting. Developers will normally retain ownership of the land required for the adoptable road and service strips and should ensure that such land is not sold or leased as part of the land on which dwellings have been built. <br/> <br/> Although service strips are adopted, they are maintained by residents and will often appear as an integral part of the garden(s). However, no trees, shrubs greater than 500mm mature height, walls, fences gates or other means of enclosure or obstruction are permitted within service strips in order to permit access and to prevent damage to underground services."

[Mike25]

"However, no trees, shrubs greater than 500mm mature height".
I could grow a bush on the verge and maintain it to a height of 450mm with a 300mm high stone in the middle lol.

[heathfield]

Surely your deeds should show whether or not the verge is part of your property? What you're allowed to do on it is another matter, in view of what Chuck says.

[bushbaby_de]

You need to check with your Council because even if you own it, it coul dbe adopted highway for the reasons given by other posters. If it is your land and not highway, then I don't see why you can't put the stones on it. But if it is highway or belongs to the Council you will need their permission.

[buildersmate]

You will get your answer by asking the Highways Department of your local authority to review the ownership of the verge. The following is a direct extract from such a letter when I asked the exact same question:

"This road is what could be classed as ancient highway and will have no adoption notice or plan associated with more recently constructed roads.

The normal assumption in these cases would be that the highway will extend between its more or less defined limits and which the public has over a period of time come to accept as highway. The limits would normally be indicated by hedges or fences except in the case of ditches where the highway boundary would usually be the roadside edge of such a ditch."

The letter goes on to confirm that in the case that I queried they accepted that an ancient ditch existed and therefore that they accepted ownership by the adjacent landowner right up to the edge of the carriageway.

For those interested, the 'rule' about ancient ditches applies because it is accepted that a man stands on the edge of his own land adjoining the ancient carriageway with a shovel and digs the ditch, shifting the soil over his left shoulder (to form the bank, if there is one present). The far edge of the ditch from the ditch/bank combination and therefore the extent of ditch-digger's land ownership.

In my opinion, unless a ditch is present at the roadside, it is unlikely that you could claim ownership and hence maintenance rights.

[cassa333]

If you don't own it you wouldn't be able to do anything with it. It's not yours to do as you want with.

Even if you actually own the verge as part of your land then you are unlikely to be able to do anything other than maintain it as it is likely an aminity that is taken as part of the highway.

If the developer still owns it then he is probably quietly thanking you for saving him the expense of maintanence. Part of planning might have been that it remains as highway regardless of ownership.

If this is a rural lane without proper pedestrian pavements do you know if the road itself is adopted?

[buildersmate]

"Even if you actually own the verge as part of your land then you are unlikely to be able to do anything other than maintain it as it is likely an aminity (sic) that is taken as part of the highway."

Absolute tripe. Do you bother to read what others have said before you?