What do you do when someone locks their bike to your property

Someone has left a bike locked to the metal fence outside our house for a week without collecting it, it's really quite annoying!

Are there any legal complications I should be aware of if I break the lock and remove the bike?

*their.

Smash the fuck out of it

This is London my friend

Are there any legal complications I should be aware of if I break the lock and remove the bike?
Only if you get caught.

However, the karmic repercussions next time you need to lock your bike up somewhere...?

Smash the fuck out of it

This is London my friend

Fuck the smash out of it.

Take it apart and sell the bits on gumtree

mash the smash out of it?

i could imagine problems for you if they could prove there wasnt a sign there initially stating that bicycles left would be removed.
i am just guessing.

ps alternatively you could remove a wheel and the saddle. within two days the rest of the bike would be stripped bare.

*depending on your postcode of course

I locked my bike to someone else's last year. They left me a little note calling me a twat.

HTH

Are there any legal complications I should be aware of if I break the lock and remove the bike?

Being arrested for theft?

What's annoying about it?

Is it a Create despoiling an otherwise unfettered view of idyllic rural pastures?

Unless its causing some kind of obstruction physically I'd just put a pot plant in front of it or something.

Or if you're feeling spiteful put loads of crumbs on it so pigeons shit all over it. That'll stop em putting it there again and its not like you'll be blamed-he'll just think there's an epidemic of diarrhitic birds on your street. Or you could shit on it, but thats less subtle, and your neighbours might object.

why is it annoying? has it stopped you polishing your fence?

Put an extra lock on it and a note.
Then when he contacts you to get his bike, you can smash his face with a golf club or just give him a verbal beating. Whatever you prefer.

why is it annoying? has it stopped you polishing your fence?

The bitter shithead in my says steal the bike or put another lock on it, but that would be a such a dick thing to do.

It's just a bike on a fence, what's so bad about that?

Granted somebody once parked in front of my garage and I went absolutely mental and jacked their car up, pushed it off the jack moving it six inches forward, repeated until a)I was extremely tired b)their suspension was probably ruined and their rear jacking point definitely was and c)I could just about get my car out. Fucking deserved it though.

What's annoying about it?

Or if you're feeling spiteful put loads of crumbs on it so pigeons shit all over it. That'll stop em putting it there again and its not like you'll be blamed-he'll just think there's an epidemic of diarrhitic birds on your street. Or you could shit on it, but thats less subtle, and your neighbours might object.

Put an extra lock on it and a note.
Then when he contacts you to get his bike, you can smash his face with a golf club or just give him a verbal beating. Whatever you prefer.

The bitter shithead in my says steal the bike or put another lock on it, but that would be a such a dick thing to do.

this this and this, in any order.

Put an extra lock on it and a note.
Then when he contacts you to get his bike, you can smash his face with a golf club or just give him a verbal beating. Whatever you prefer.

This

Go inside and have a cup of tea.

Someone has left a bike locked to the metal fence outside our house for a week without collecting it, it's really quite annoying!

Are there any legal complications I should be aware of if I break the lock and remove the bike?

A week isn't long enough.

First determine whether it's in use and let the owner know that it's not OK to lock against your property. Do this by putting a notice on the bike (A4 inside a plastic sleeve stapled to itself over the top tube is good... non-damaging and weather-proof but owner would remove it before use).

If after some stretch of time (1 month, say) it hasn't been moved (notice is still there), then consider it abandoned and take an angle-grinder to the lock and leave it unlocked for someone to remove (if it's there for more than 60 minutes you live in a very nice area).

It is absolutely NOT OK to act without warning or notice and to act too swiftly. If this were your bike that you were locking in a place that you thought safe think about how you'd react if you returned to find it cut-free, damaged or removed... just put a note on it and communicate it, and give it time for that to be received by the owner.

Who does this Velocio think he is?

Dispenses good quality thoughtful advice.

Creates a forum where 15,000 +? people get loads of satisfaction and enjoyment.

Pffff I say.

Response in such circumstances should always be driven by what you'd want other people to do to your property.

Did once share a flat where we had problems with someone leaving their bike in the corridor, rather than locked up with all the others in the basement.... my flat mate took the initiative to leave note on the bike the first and second time, then started letting both tyres down each time the bike appeared.... only took for him to do it twice before they got the message....

Thanks for this very helpful advice, a note will be posted
tonight!

A week isn't long enough.

First determine whether it's in use and let the owner know that it's not OK to lock against your property. Do this by putting a notice on the bike (A4 inside a plastic sleeve stapled to itself over the top tube is good... non-damaging and weather-proof but owner would remove it before use).

If after some stretch of time (1 month, say) it hasn't been moved (notice is still there), then consider it abandoned and take an angle-grinder to the lock and leave it unlocked for someone to remove (if it's there for more than 60 minutes you live in a very nice area).

It is absolutely NOT OK to act without warning or notice and to act too swiftly. If this were your bike that you were locking in a place that you thought safe think about how you'd react if you returned to find it cut-free, damaged or removed... just put a note on it and communicate it, and give it time for that to be received by the owner.

as someone else here always says....

Has this been resolved ?

It makes it easier for people to look back on this thread and understand what to do exactly. Saves bloody reposts

paint it all the same colour as the fence, it'll blend in nicely...

In terms of moral/legal issues, they are different. I believe** that you have the right to do what you like inside your own property. So if the bike is locked in such a way that the lock intrudes into a space that you OWN (rented property does not count - that's the landlord's problem) then you can cut off the part which intrudes into your property. You may have to give reasonable warning though - I don't know about that bit. If it's somehow locked outside you property on the street and locked around a lamp post or something like that so nothing intrudes into your land, then it's none of your business legally. Call the council.

Morally, you ought to give them fair warning before destroying their lock. It would also be polite to drop it into the local fuzz once you've cut it free. You never know, the owner might've just locked up quickly like we've all done occasionally and had an accident or something, so was unable to return to reclaim it.

If you end up owning this bike by liberating it, dropping it into the police and it isn't claimed in 28 days, I need a beater bike. (Hint hint.)

**Please note: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. The above statement is not guaranteed to be legally accurate - it's just what I believe to be true.