Wayleave

[Chelsearob]

Hi just wondering if anyone can shine a little light on a problem. In my garden I have a stone plate 3ft x 2 ft  and every now and again when I return home from work I have a couple of guys with tools and the stone plate removed working on there hands and knees connecting thing down in the hole. Apparently they are from virgin media and every now and then come and remove the plate to connect people with broadband on my street. 

The thing is they never ask for permission or care to tell me what they ate doing and reading some of the threads on many websites that I should of signed a wayleave which I have not. Are they allowed to do this?

Many thanks Robert. 

[goslow]

Might not be a straightforward answer to this question! Presumably they are accessing an underground inspection/access chamber to feed through cables or make new connections.

Can you post some photos of what they are accessing and where it sits in relation to your property and other areas of public land? This will help the VM forum team when they reply here.

From past topics like this which have cropped up one here, further questions might be along the lines of: How long has the concrete cover been there? Has the land in question always been your property (or might it previously have been considered a 'verge' type of area alongside a road or pavement)? What do your property deeds show about any historical access agreements which might be in place?

[jem101 · Accepted solution]

@Chelsearob Indeed if there is a Wayleave and/or an Easement in place (legally they are quite different) than this absolutely has to be included in the deeds to the properly, and if there is such an agreement in palace but it hasn’t been included, then you have grounds to take legal action against whoever you purchased the properly from and/or their solicitors!

Now realistically, I am going to suggest that nothing legal was ever put in place, so the next time you come home to find trespassers on your property, you eject them (remember that the law absolutely allows for you to use ‘reasonable force’ to do so). The point being that you have to enforce your rights over your property or risk loosing them. Send a letter to (and keep a copy, possibly deposited with your solicitors) VM and ask by what right do they think they have to access your property? Probably you won’t get a response but after a reasonable time, build a rock garden over the chamber, erect a shed on it!

[Ayisha_B]

Hi @Chelsearob,

Welcome to our Community Forums and thanks for your post. 

Would you mind sharing some photos so we can assist further?

Hope to hear from you soon!