How can I stop kids climbing over my fence into my yard?
Question:I'm having a problem with rowdy kids playing in my street. I live in a terraced street and more or less every day they're kicking footballs over and into my fence (which is 6 foot high) as well as climbing over the fence or on top of the extension (single storey) and jumping into the yard.
They've already smashed my bathroom window and pulled my green house over.
I don't know who the parents are so I can't go and complain and they don't respond to reasoning.
I've heard that putting glass or barbed wire on top of fences and walls is illegal. But if they can get on the roof so easily I'm worried they'll go through it one day and I'll be left with a huge bill to get it fixed.
I feel like I'm under seige and powerless! Any ideas or similar experiences?
Answers:
Put up razor wire and that will stop the nasty little chavs from annoying you..Or get a big rottweiler..
ask your counicl too put up those spikes, you know like what you see on some buildings to stop pigeons
film it and let the police know about it - then you will have proof
Electric fence. Or just have a few of them arrested. Get a really big dog that will eat them for lunch.
Get a guard dog.
You could try painting the top of your fence with something like grease to make it difficult to climb over or grow very prickly bushes along the fence to deter them. Good luck.
Setup a video camera that gets clear pictures and video them coming in and report them, have them done for trespassing.
Alternatively, screw the law and glue some broken glass to the top of the fence. They'll think again about climbing up next time.
I suppose razor wire is out of the question too..?
Have you attempted to ask them firmly, but politely to stop?
Post a Mean attack dog warning sign on your fence...maybe they will think you have one or call the police, your house and yard is your private property and if they see police cruising around and if they keep hasseling the kids then maybe they will find somewhere else to go
contact local council about problem , they can put up anti climb paint you have to put a sign up which they will do or else you can be sued.
get your local mp involved, play up until someone listens to you
good luck!
I would try to find out if barbed wire is illegal or not. Thats what my suggestion would be.
Or add those bird spikes to the tops of your fence and claim its to keep the birds away...
Buy yourself a large vicious dog. I'm sure they will soon tire of having chunks of flesh bitten out of their backsides.
shotgun!?
Just kidding :)
Kids have to be taught reason. So it is unexpected that they have these skills. Maybe be more demanding or have your husband go out and talk to them. Shouldn't be too difficult. Just gain their respect.
Install a cheap CCTV and then present to the police as evidence. Good Luck.
Move house! Seriously, I just can not think of a single thing to solve this problem. Thing is if you complain or get into arguments with your neighbours and then you do decide to sell up, you have to state on the legal forms whether or not you have had disagreements with neighbours etc.
I know it's a bit of a dramatic suggestion but it could be the only answer in the end.
Go to a reputable DIY shop,and get some "anti-climb" paint;it looks like black gooey grease.Apply it along the tops of all gates and fences the kids climb over,and that should stop the problem.
You might have to erect a sign,saying that A.C.P. was being used,to avoid any claims from people.
Glass isnt illegal. I mean, everyones doing it. These day's people are going a little casual and getting these metal spikey things placed on there wall.
I was about to say get a crossbow or gun and shoot the damn chavs but then I remembered the twisted law's in this country which prevent you from doing anything.
I suppose you could install a camera, record them tress passing & then give it to the police.
Good luck!
Speak to someone from your local neighbourhood-watch group, if there's one in your area. If there isn't, try speaking to your local police officers and see if they could offer any assistance. Also you could try calling your local city council's enquiries line and see if they could put you through to someone who may be able to help. 2 years ago I lived in a rented house and had the same - local troublemaking kids often sitting on my fence, kicking their balls at my windows and into the yard, etc. My landlord called the local police station and spoke to the PCs about it, and a few days later a local neighbourhood-watch officer knocked on my door to speak to me about the problem - he wrote it all down and listened very attentively to my problem, and then left me a namecard with a number to call should those troublemakers come again and if I called that number, they would send someone down to disperse the group of kids.
I never ended up using the service though, as my tenancy was expiring within a few weeks and I wasn't renewing it!
If you live in the UK, most people know about the existence of such teen gangs and vandals and I'm sure all local city councils and police stations will know about this sort of thing and how to deal with it, so just get on the phone and speak to your local city council or your local police station.
Also, would be good if you could film the troublemakers at "work" with a videocam, videophone or a security camera (if you have it), so that you have video evidence of who those people are. My husband did just that.
electrify it,or maybe a really vicious dog,crocodile etc.
You can get some rubber spikes to stick on top of the fence. They are used to stop cats climbing ontop of the fence.
My dad put some on ours a few yrs ago, they are hard rubber about 20mm long. i didnt know about it at the time and caught my hand on them and it went straight through. kinda put me off climbing over the fence
Sadly, thanks to successive governments, you can't stop them . They have all the rights legally. If they hurt themselves you will be held responsible. If you shout at them or touch them in any way you will be prosecuted. It's just the way this country has gone.
You could hire a hit man!
Good luck.
#1 get some motion detector things that make lots of noise so you will know exactly when the kids are there and where exactly they are
#2 get a camera or camcorder and get pictures and/or video. It's a lot easier to be able to give the cops proof otherwise the kids can just say "no, that lady's crazy. we weren't trashing her property." (nowadays you can even get video systems with motion detectors.) You're trying to catch these kids in action. If you can get them on film or tape, it will be much easier to id them.
#3 call the cops and tell them about the problems. show them your pictures/video and tell them about all the damage. It's a good idea to photograph all of your property before so then you have something to show the cops to compare the after to so they can see the damage.
I know excactly how powerless you feel. My neighbourhood is being terrorised by the children of two families, the kids are 11 and under. They jump into gardens, on top of cars, one just walks into my house! They have started targetting my home at night by throwing firstly rocks, then eggs. They have smashed all the windows in one neighbours house and tried to set fire to their car. The list goes on.
What can we law abiding citizens do? Nothing. We can't use anti vandal paint, barbed wire, spikes etc. The police even object to using CCTV on young children incase we are accused of peodophillia!! HELLO!! We are the victims, and the only way we can give solid proof to the police is by film or photos. Apparently we need 2 witnesses each time for every crime. The part of the street I stay in you have to be in your back bedroom to see my back garden where they kick my car and shout abuse at me and my family.
What I can suggest is just ignore the police and throw a couple of handfuls of nails and tacks on your roof. If it's your garage roof, whose gonna know it was you who have put broken glass scattered on top of it? As for the fence, castles are protected by moats, dig a muddy surround to the areas they jump onto, or just a few small holes big enough for a foot to get stuck in so they accidentally break their ankles. Grease the walls, the vandals aren't excatly going to admit to tyring to climb it are they?
Good luck, I hope your battle ends soon because I know mine is no where near ending.
[EDIT] After answering this, the family that the children belonged to moved out! It took the council to threaten their landlord that they weren't going to pay him the rent for the landlord to take action and chuck them out! If they are council tennants, get the ASBO officer for advice and keep annoying them and also keep phoning the police for reference numbers!
I hope this is the end of my troubles as there is still a slight problem in my area, but it never affected me directly, so good luck with yours, all it takes is patience!! x
Hiya
this is a nasty one, isn't it? The problem with any 'solution', as far as kids are concerned is only ever temporary and even if you stop one group you may find another group starts. I have had similar problems myself and now just avoid going home in the afternoons and evenings.
I definately think it is worth investing in security cameras as then any damage can be paid for by the parents. I have a friend who used video and photographic evidence to get a family evicted that were harassing her and she was a single parent at the time. Of course collecting all this evidence is going to be time and money on your part, but a 'friendly' letter to the main parents with a photo of the offence could act as an effective bluff (the council should be able to help with distributing the letter). I would suggest speaking to your local police/community officer about the implications of taking photo's of children and explain the situation. Definately let your MP know about this, or how can Government know about the levels of stress caused by undisciplined youths.
It may be worth approaching some of your other neighbours to see whether they are experiencing the problem in the same way that you are; there is strength in numbers.
Life is hard enough and people who feel old enough to 'have children' should take due responsibility for them - none of us asked to be born did we? Maybe if you suggest starting up some sort of community project for the children concerned..?? If the parents are at all approachable they may be persuaded to see that something constructive could be achieved if their children were less of a nuisance.
Hope it gets better for you.
Now I know this may sound disgusting but believe me it really works. Nobody likes cat or dog poop, so spread it liberally in the appropriate places. Once they realise that they're covered in it they'll start to stay away and won't guess that it was done intentionally. Good luck to you.
Non drying paint!My parents put it on the top of their fence to stop kids climbing over. It really works!!
Good luck!
Cover the area with vandel grease, this should deter them. Just make sure that you put up some warning signs that cant be removed or taken down!.
Definitely contact the police. At the very least you need to start a paper trail of your complaint. If one of these kids gets hurt on your property you could be held liable.
Barbed wire might get you into trouble. However, it is possible to get spiky plastic fence topping, which hurts but doesn't injure. I had a similar problem, and banged 1" round-headed nails half-way in along the fence top, around 4" apart, to get the same effect at low cost.
This wouldn't stop them getting on to your extension, though, I'm afraid.
If you've tried to reason with them and had no success then contact the local council and ask what you can use to stop them doing it maybe something on top of the fence, they will advise you what deterrent you can use legally. I know lots of people put prickly bushes that grow over the fence but even that wouldn't deter some kids and it would take ages to grow. I had terrible trouble when I lived in an end of terrace house, the same thing as you really, kids climbing into the garden, ruining the plants, fence, damaging the car that was parked alongside and leaving the gate open. This was really dangerous as I had small children that could get on to the road if the gate was open. I couldn't padlock the inside of the gate all the time because we used it to go back and forth because the gate was on the side of the house where the car was parked. In the end my dog got out because one kid must have left the gate open and he was run over and killed, I then was forced to padlock it and only use my front door and have to walk right around the house sometimes carrying the baby in the rain and the shopping to be able to use the car, doesn't seem much but when you have a side entrance you want to be able to use it, as it's in your own home.
I knew most of the parents of the kids some lived in the street , I approached them and politely mentioned the problem (this was before the dog incident) and although they were what I thought respectable families they're answer was just that kids had always played there and one said that she had when she was a kid. I said I realised they had to play but there was a perfectly good football pitch just up the road, I said that I would prefer it if they stopped their children doing it as it was a nightmare. Some put a stop to it some didn't, in the end I said that that I would contact the police and press charges for damages and nuisance. It didn't stop completely and very soon I decided to move, not just because of this problem but it did make the decision easier to make. If I had stayed there I would have called the police in the end, it might seem petty to some but when it badly affects your life then you shouldn't have to endure it.
I would never allow my kids to behave like that and if I found out they had I would put a stop to it. If this continues you should contact the police and complain, ring them while they can catch them at it or video it as evidence, you shouldn't have to put up with this and as you said it could end up with one of them falling through your roof and wrecking it and probably seriously injuring themselves too. You shouldn't have to fit the bill for other people's damage to your property.
Don't let it go on forever and if the police show no interest then warn them that you won't be responsible for your actions if they continue with this nuisance, so it would be better that they sort it than you take your own steps to stop them.
I really hope you sort it out I know what it's like to feel under seige in your own home, best of luck!
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