Anyone know what the laws are when it comes to obstruction? The Canary Wharf area of London is nearly all private roads controlled by private security firms, however they look like normal public roads with yellow lines etc. ... Anyone know how police would act if there was a major (or even minor) obstruction in that area? Also what would be the law on blocking the car park entrance to something like a drive through Mcdonalds if you were actually on their territory and off of the public highway?
I think the law would still be against that kind of action. I went leafletting outside my local Esso station a couple of years ago. The police turned up and told us we were allowed to carry on what we were doing, but weren't allowed to block the entrance to the station....
Occasionally the police say stuff with the hope that you are ignorant of the law. I wonder if it's true what they told you and I wonder if there is a difference between preventing access from inside an entrance and blocking from the public highway. Does a throughfare on a private road or estate still constitute as public highway and if it doesn't then surely they would have to get an eviction order rather than just remove you for obstruction? Would be interesting to find out because my mind is ticking away with something.
That's a good point. They may well need an eviction order, as is with the case of travellers on private property. Definitely worth looking into....
If you are on private property and the owner wants you to move you are guilty of trespass a civil offence, but the owner can still use reasonable force to move you off his property. The owner can also obtain an injunction from a court banning you from entering his property. Breaking the injunction would then be a criminal offence. However you cannot prosecute a tresspasser as many private property signs say. Although criminal tresspass does apply to a few places like railways under the railways act passed by the government many decades ago.
