Attitude to 'No Overnight' Signs

[Wooie1958]

My experience is that the police are pretty easy going on overnighting. They see a reasonably respectable outfit and people who aren't going to cause a nuisance and they are helpful. It is the jobsworths from other organisations that want to throw their power around.

I fully agree, our experiences with the Police has been excellent. ( Now i`m off the wanted list ................. LOL )

I also think it`s a lot to do with how you greet them when they come towards you, but maybe that `s down to Old Fashioned Manners sadly in short supply these days.

Been asked a couple of times whether we`d seen a certain vehicle or people pass whilst we was travelling or parked up.

The saddest one was being asked if we`d seen an Elderly Lady that was missing, kept an eye on the local news for the next couple of days and thankfully she was found
later on that evening.

The best was an Officer that spent the best part of an hour ( + 2 brews ) with us, he came in to ask about the DRL`s i`d fitted on our van.

He`d seen us twice during the day and was very impressed with how they looked and worked, so he popped in to ask the make and model of them and also if he could
have a quick look at how they`d been fitted.

He went away a very happy chappy and also told us of a couple of nice quiet places ( already in the POI`s ) we could overnight.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

I actually thought to myself, what a strange name for a Scottish Loch, sounds more Chinese, then I realised!!!!!

Me too

 

[Robmac]

..................I also think it`s a lot to do with how you greet them when they come towards you, but maybe that `s down to Old Fashioned Manners sadly in short supply these days..........................

Fully agree. They're just human beings doing a job, suffering the same daily trials and tribulations as the rest of us. Have a cuppa and a chat and if you do get the odd stickler, just move on, it happens very rarely.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Out of interest we checked out a lot of very promising looking local lay-bys. When still in Herefordshire many of them have an empty pole where the parking limited to 4 hours sign seems to have been mislaid.

According to Phill the Cat the lorry drivers have somehow mislaid the signs .

 

[christine]

Like Wooie1958, we won't camp where there are forbidding signs, whether they are legal or not. We like to be relaxed and enjoy a few drinks.

Our only time we had a police visit was very recently at Crombie Point near Culross.Although there was a notice saying we were on private MOD property, it was a car park and other folks were parked there. We actually thought the munitions place was redundant as it was supposed to be an emergency exit but it was very overgrown. We did see the cctv but again thought it was dead. We spent a peaceful night and were enjoying breakfast in bed when a police car drew up and explained we were on private property and had been on camera all night.He was very nice when we said we would be moving within the hour and told us to enjoy our holiday.We must have been the most interesting event in years for the cctv watchers!!!

 

[Jean Genie]

Like Wooie1958, we won't camp where there are forbidding signs, whether they are legal or not. We like to be relaxed and enjoy a few drinks.

Our only time we had a police visit was very recently at Crombie Point near Culross.Although there was a notice saying we were on private MOD property, it was a car park and other folks were parked there. We actually thought the munitions place was redundant as it was supposed to be an emergency exit but it was very overgrown. We did see the cctv but again thought it was dead. We spent a peaceful night and were enjoying breakfast in bed when a police car drew up and explained we were on private property and had been on camera all night.He was very nice when we said we would be moving within the hour and told us to enjoy our holiday.We must have been the most interesting event in years for the cctv watchers!!!

Do feel free to expand on this.. :shag:

 

[Sharon the Cat]

We've so far spent a night in a rally field and one in a pub car park, so I can hardly speak from experience.
If there were signs I would not be able to ignore them, it would make me too nervous.

 

[christine]

Jean Genie, I was being slightly sarcastic, all we did was go for a walk then sat in as it was too windy for being outside.

 

[frontslide]

Sign or no sign i still use the good old fashioned common sense.

 

[Jean Genie]

Jean Genie, I was being slightly sarcastic, all we did was go for a walk then sat in as it was too windy for being outside.

Likewise.

 

[Firefox]

They can't insist....they just start the usual interminable stupid questions!! eg. 'Is this Your Van sir?'.....'Is this Your Wife?' (Seriously!!! Norfolk's finest!!)...'Is this a number or a letter?' (on number plate...) Prob. hoping You'll give in & re-locate to the 'suggested' camp-site!!

True, they don't have any power to move you on highways land eg Layby (or Council car parks sometimes) unless you are obstructing the highway or a crime is being committed.

But they do have powers to be awkward if you rub them up the wrong way. It's not too difficult for them to find something wrong with most vehicles.

It's never happened to me, but I would cooperate with them, up the point of actually moving there and then. I'd say I was too tired to drive but would comply with their request first thing in the morning.

 

[Dezi]

We usually adhere to the " No Overnight Parking / Camping " signs for the simple reason that once we`ve settled down we want a peaceful night.

We don`t want to be on edge waiting for the " Knock On The Door " especially if you`ve just heard a vehicle come into where you are parked.

The last thing i want is to start Arguing / Discussing whether a sign is legal or not because it isn`t backed up by a relevant T.R.O. or has a
Comma / Full Stop missing so that makes it illegal.

We`ve only once been advised to moved by the Police and that was because the place we`d parked was frequented by Boy Racers and we`d
probably not have a good night.

They recommended another layby 1/2 a mile down the road and that we`d be OK there, it wasn`t an order just a recommendation, the choice
was ours.

We did move and had a very peaceful night and we could at one stage hear the screaming and squealing of engines and tyres in the distance.

Exactly, why would anybody to do otherwise?

Plenty of available places without parking on restricted areas and annoying the authorities.

Dezi

 

[Jean Genie]

Agreed, but it is a bit odd the police clearing a place for the boy racers indulgence??

If they are aware of such goings on it is their duty to put a stop to them.

Sorry, off topic I know, but.

 

[Sparks]

Post Deleted

 

[mark61]

They have to practice their PIT manoeuvre somewhere.

 

[ricc]

Agreed, but it is a bit odd the police clearing a place for the boy racers indulgence??

If they are aware of such goings on it is their duty to put a stop to them.

Sorry, off topic I know, but.

may well be the police tolerate it in an out of the way carpark, (which may well be privatly owned so so the police cant stop it off there own bat anyway) rather than have them thrashing round a housing estate.

 

[Smaug]

Just wondered if anyone has been forcibly removed from a no overnight spot. I.e. Has it led to the police being involved and insisting that you leave?

Yes, and I have told the tale before. It was in the Peak District & on a lonely moorland single track road, there was an old quarry, not large, but big enough to reverse into well off the road. Anyway, we had tea & put the kids to bed, during which time a single large car went past. At around 10pm, just as we were about to go to bed ourselves, a police car pulled up & told us we couldn't stop there. I politely asked what the problem was & pointed out that the children were asleep in bed - not entirely true as damn plod had woken them up. "It's a National park," he said "No camping allowed, you have to go to a proper site" - but there were no signs saying no camping, with or without TRO. However, I suppose that it is possible that there is a TRO governing the whole of a national Park.

Of course we didn't know of any sites, so he agreed to lead us to one (where he seemed to be on good terms with the owner). I doubt he had any real power to move us on, but as already pointed out, it isn't a good idea to annoy the Fuzz so we went along with their instructions. I might protest a little more strongly next time, but with wife & kids on board it isn't sensible to wind up the Police late at night.

There is no way they could have known we were there unless someone told them, so I can only assume that the sole car that passed had reported us & that he played golf with the local Chief Con (or was in the same lodge!) My guess is that we were unlucky to be spotted by a local land owner with a fear of Travellers & a bit of clout.

 

[richardstubbs]

"It's a National park," he said "No camping allowed, you have to go to a proper site"

This is, obviously, complete nonsense. There's a common misconception that a 'national park' belongs to the nation. In fact, it's really little more than a planning restriction. All the land in a national park belongs to the individual landowners (albeit some is common or crown land) just like anywhere else, and it's up to those landowners to decide whether or not to allow camping. We live just across the river from the Snowdonia national park and a few of our friends live in it. They own their houses and gardens just like anyone else, and would probably be ill-inclined to let random strangers park! But they can allow it if they want, just like anywhere else.

I strongly suspect that the quarry was private land - all those round here are, they belong to a bloke called John - and maybe the car you saw belonged to the landowner, who phoned his mate in the police. As we know, the police don't have the power to move people from private land without a court order, so I guess he just made something up.

 

[Smaug]

This is, obviously, complete nonsense. There's a common misconception that a 'national park' belongs to the nation. In fact, it's really little more than a planning restriction. All the land in a national park belongs to the individual landowners (albeit some is common or crown land) just like anywhere else, and it's up to those landowners to decide whether or not to allow camping. We live just across the river from the Snowdonia national park and a few of our friends live in it. They own their houses and gardens just like anyone else, and would probably be ill-inclined to let random strangers park! But they can allow it if they want, just like anywhere else.

I strongly suspect that the quarry was private land - all those round here are, they belong to a bloke called John - and maybe the car you saw belonged to the landowner, who phoned his mate in the police. As we know, the police don't have the power to move people from private land without a court order, so I guess he just made something up.

That's pretty much what I thought too, but getting stroppy with him could have lead to complications, not that there was anything wrong with the van or our paperwork, he could still have given us a lot of grief over the next few hours "checking". It is one event in over 10 years of wilding, so it hasn't fazed us.

 

[richardstubbs]

That's pretty much what I thought too, but getting stroppy with him could have lead to complications, not that there was anything wrong with the van or our paperwork, he could still have given us a lot of grief over the next few hours "checking". It is one event in over 10 years of wilding, so it hasn't fazed us.

Definitely, I would have moved too. Most of our wilding has been done in France, but some here. That's why I've joined this forum. I want to think that people are happy with us being there or I'm not really happy myself.