I am not The OOP, OOP is u/No_Marzipan_2244

Bought a house, but wasn't informed that the garden was part of a right of way for ramblers. I have an average of 12 people passing through my property every single day. Do I have any remedy?

Originally posted to r/LegaladviceUK

TRIGGER WARNING: sexual harassment, destruction of property

MOOD SPOILER: Frustrating for OOP

NOTE: A rambler is a person whose hobby is going on long walks in the countryside, often as part of an organized group

Original Post Aug 31, 2022

Closed on a house couple of months ago and moved in.

My garden backs on to a forested field; however, it turns out that ramblers had been crossing through this field, through my garden, and down onto a country road as a shortcut.

I began constructing a fence across my garden, but my contractors were confronted by a pair of angry ramblers who talked about their being a right of way to walk through here for years.

It appears that ramblers have been using this route for years - something which the seller never disclosed.

I now have an average of 12 people and their dogs crossing through my garden every day. Every night I have to clean up dog poop, bags of dog poo, and litter that are left discarded in my garden. I have also had my vegetable and berry patch picked clean of fruit when it was just about ready to be harvested.

Not to mention they take breaks in my garden furniture, damaging two chairs. Furthermore, my family have absolutely no privacy. My daughter was sunbathing in her bikini when two male ramblers stopped mid-way through my property and leered at her.

Can I close off this right of way for ramblers?

EDIT: I can supply a map in microsoft paint if that would help.

RELEVANT COMMENTS

MiserableCoconut

Shouldn't this be an issue for the council , if it is a right of way then the solicitor should be sued. If it isn't a right of way you will have to put some signage up telling them it is not a right of way

OOP replied

Sorry, forgot to mention that I spoke with the records office of the local council. It is a public right of way.

What does suing a solicitor entail? Is there any chance of having the sale reversed? I have absolutely no desire to spend the next god-knows-how-many years of my life living with absolutely no privacy.

The right of way extends down my driveway as well - a very tight 50m long road, which means I sometimes can't even get my car out until a rambler finishes walking up it.

I've also caught some peeping through my downstairs windows on the way past. I've had to permenantly close the blinds. I feel like I'm living in a bloody prison.

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Update - 11 months later July 25, 2023

It's been about a year. And it's been another dreadful summer.

Rambler numbers have increased drastically. We're averaging 3 groups of ramblers per hour cutting through our property now. Many of these groups contain men who are acting creepy towards my daughter.

We have to keep our downstairs curtains and blinds permenantly closed or we get people nosying in as they pass by. On a weekly basis people sit in our lawn furniture. Asking them to leave constantly results in defiant attitudes and fights.

My daughter can't stay in the garden alone because of creepy men who keep trying to chat her up. She has been followed right to the back door of the kitchen on two occassions. Confronting the men results in them speaking in their native language and pretending they don't understand me - even though they were clearly speaking to my daughter in English just a minute prior.

Engagement with societies and our local council has not resulted in any changes being made to this right of way that runs through my property.

We filed numerous police reports about the men who harass our daughter. They never come out in time to catch the men. We showed officers photographs of the men who do it.

We're selling as soon as possible. This is literally unbearable for my whole family.

RELEVANT COMMENTS

manamonkey

"Engagement with societies and our local council has not resulted in any changes being made to this right of way that runs through my property."

Because.....?

If you want any legal advice, you'll have to give some kind of detail about what you've tried so far and why it hasn't been successful.

OOP replied

Sorry, seller failed to disclose a public right of way through the property on the TA06 form.

Seller has now left the country and we have no recourse to pursue him.

We spoke with out council's Countryside Access Team. After a drawn out process it was decided that no action was required as the public right of way formed a critical link and there were no suitable alternative routes available.

We spoke with Ramblers assoiciations in the area who refused to do anything about the harassement we are facing aside from putting out a general email asking them to "not pick the fruit and veg." They disavowed any connection to the men harassing my daughter and refuse to engage on that matter.

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doomladen

If it didn't show up on searches, why do you believe the right of way exists at all?

OOP replied

I've confirmed its existence with our local council's Countryside Access Team. It's an old one that runs through land that is now owned by the National Trust. My property basically serves as the "exit point" for the entire right of way.

People go in one side of the forest; and my driveway takes you out the far side.

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jennymayg13

Can you create a fence in pathway? So that they have a contained way of passing through?

OOP replied and made a map

Shape of garden does not lend itself to that.

I need access to "Another old wall" on the map below as that has my veg/fruit patches, and my septic tank.

https://imgbb.com/1LW1zSC

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Wise_Ferret_8118

I assume you did have a conveyancing solicitor when you purchased the house?

Apologies if you have clarified this already, but I can see lots of comments saying speak to them about it, but can't see your response to this?

It appears you have already tried a few routes to sort this, so i assume you spoke to the solicitors first - If you did, what was their stance when you spoke to them??

OOP replied

Yes, I did.

I've been speaking to them and they assisted me in drafting letters to challenge the right of way with the local authority. It ultimately failed though.

It appears responsibility lies with the seller who deliberately hid the right of way on the LA06 form. The seller has since moved out of the country to Pakistan, making legal recourse almost impossible.

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP