A gardener who fenced off his allotment with barbed wire after being targeted by thieves has been ordered to take it down – in case intruders scratch themselves.
Bill Malcolm erected the 3ft fence after thieves struck three times in just four months, stealing tools worth around £300 from his shed and ransacking his vegetable patch.
A spokesman for Bromsgrove council said: ‘With regard to the barbed wire, when this is identified on site, we are obliged to request its removal or remove it on health and safety grounds.’
Mr Malcolm’s plight comes just weeks after Bristol council angered allotment holders by urging them not to lock their sheds in case burglars damaged them breaking in.
So there it is. If you can’t protect your property, who is going to protect it for you ?
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all property is theft comrade!
Along with 20 other O.A.P.s, I attend an Advanced French Conversation Class every Wednesday morning….
We have been warned that,we are not allowed to enter the classroom until the teacher (a youngster of 63 years of age) arrives.
Health & Safety has gone mad!
That does NOT sound good.
ah well…..The thief did him a favour. Best to get rid of the sharp pointy things in that unlocked shed.
Pity they can’t ‘kennel’ a suitable dog in the sheds, to greet any intruders!
[...] Protection Posted on October 12, 2008 by whichendbites [...]
Have posted this on my site, referencing it to yours. Hope u don’t mind!
I live near an Army Garrison town. If the Army [and Police] can surround their properties with barbed wire why can’t citizens?
I believe there is also an exemption for Agricultural Land.
Barbed wire may be used to defend your property, but the law puts certain restrictions on its use.
Section 164 Highways Act 1980, says that where, on land adjoining a highway, there is a fence made with barbed wire in or on it and the wire is a nuisance to the highway, a notice may be issued by the Local Authority for the nuisance to be removed.
Being a nuisance means that it is likely to cause injury to people or animals using the highway.
In practice, most Local Authority Highways Departments usually consider that barbed wire lower than eight feet from the ground could be a nuisance to highway users.
But does the land adjoin the highway.?
I’ve just stubbed my toe. It’s someone else’s fault.
That’s what’s wrong with Britain.
I recieved the advice cited by Blueknight above when an officer advised that barbed wire was ok on fences between neighbours but not adjacent to a public highway ( in response to our concerns about local youngsters using several gardens as a short cut to no-where in particular ).
Dickiebo……..no probs.