[Link]
(The Sun)

"She wrote: "I have a block of flats next to my house and I thought for a while things have been moved in my garden and it seemed a bit weird.

"I’ve got a lock on the gate and it’s always locked. So over the weekend, I’ve installed a small outdoor camera under my guttering which records the whole back garden.

"I’ve come home tonight after work (I work the late shift) and found two cigarette butts on the path by my seating area.

"I checked the camera and the neighbours have climbed my wall and been sitting in my garden from 2 pm until 8 pm using my seating and table.

"To say I’m annoyed is an understatement but how do I confront them as they aren’t the friendliest of people at the best of times?

"I guess they’ve been doing this since the nice weather began. Unfortunately, it’s not difficult to see I’m out as I have to drive to work and so once my cars are not there they obviously know I’m out.

"I just don’t know how to approach this as I’m a single woman and just concerned it’ll escalate but I can’t allow this"

what would you all do? Let your imagination go wild.

I was thinking along the lines of chemical warfare,...but you must be able to use your own garden.

I disengage, I turn the page.

Write a polite letter to your neighbours informing them of your concerns on their trespass and your intent to protective actions. Do not explicitly say these actions are aimed at them but are for your security.

Extend the height of the wall with extensive barbed wire ensuring it can't just be pulled down.

Then CCTV, which you sensibly do already.

Edited by Stirlingsays (02 Aug 2021 4.48pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Looking at the crazy laws that this country has maybe barbed wire opens you up to civil action.....which is insane if you ask me.

Extending the height of the wall and/or the use of prickly plants like Hawthorne, Poncira, Pyracantha (rapid growth), Rosa Rugosa.

Perhaps these are plausible deniability alternatives.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Maybe CCTV and leaving a few valuables on the table wouldn't be a bad combination. I can't imagine people claiming other peoples back yards as their own when they feel like it would be averse to stealing seemingly easy pickings.

Could then confront them with evidence of their thieving as well as trespassing and tell them to stay well away .

Edited by BlueJay (02 Aug 2021 5.02pm)

She has CCTV that's how she knows who it was. I would set it to alert my mobile phone when they enter I would then call the police and tell them you can see on your phone that somebody is lurking in your garden.

Let them deal with it.

Edited by Badger11 (02 Aug 2021 5.13pm)

One more point

They sit around in the office making up these problems.

My old solution to this is sit in your front garden in a deck chair drinking cans of Tennant Super or Special Brew in a string vest, smoking fags and generally looking rough. Burn some rubbish in a barrel, sing football songs that kind of thing. Do this in your first week of living somewhere, and, funnily enough, you don't get burgled and the neighbours leave you alone. They certainly won't nick your garden.

Red and Blue Army!