Legality of barbed wire?
 

Is there any reason why I can't put barbed wire on the top of my side entrance and roof edges of my garage? the house (and garage etc) is set back at least 15 foot from the pavement (if that makes any difference)

Thanks

ps I know it looks horrid but want to secure my house as much as possible:(

Law says No Im afraid.... all to do with people hurting themselves as they break into your property.

You could put anti-bandit paint on as once it is on you cant wash it off and the police can arrest you for questioning if they see people with it on.

A quick google search brings up this snippet from Grampian police

http://www.grampian.police.uk/Pdf/Ad...SafeSecure.pdf

as G.I.A.S said its against the law in case anyone hurts themselves on it for whatever reason,leaves you open to being sued

Hi again!

Funny that, because I was at a friends house at the end of whose garden is the underground line. London underground have put up a fence with barbed wire between the line and the gardens. If they can do it why can't I?:brickwall

I take it the same applies to anything else sharp/dangerous ie spikes etc?

Thanks for the heads up on the anti bandit paint


Thanks for the advice on the roof btw, I've decided to go with timber frame/double battened/felt/tiles/lead flashing:)

I suppose it could also hurt the firebrigade/police if they needed to gain entry, which is a fair point. Saying that though if there was a fire I would presume the fire brigade would just hack the wooden side door down in 10 seconds

Thanks. That doesn't say its illegal. How am I meant to take reasonable precautions to prevent someone being injured if I'm using barbed wire, when the whole point of the barbed wire is to injure anyone who tries to come over?:wonder:

Have you seen the price of lead recently? That won't be there for long :D dl


(they've even done the lead off the roof of a school around here.....)

I though there was a distinction made between commercial and residential properties.

It means make sure it's visible - ie you haven't dug a three foot trench and filled it with razor wire for someone to fall into.

Interestingly, our house is surrounded on 2 sides by a farmer's field where he routinely keeps cattle. The top 2 strands of the fence are "protected" by 240v electric :eek:

There's a couple of little yellow signs warning of the electric fence dotted about but it would appear that it's totally legal to do.

I've only clobbered myself a couple of times :rolleyes:

Deep, the trick is to use natural barbed wire. Holly trees or pyracanthus plants, or even brambles if you can get them to trail along the top. The best bit is they look "decorative". Barbed wire to me suggests someone has something worth protecting / nicking (and is easy to get over just by throwing an old coat over it) - holly just looks like they want a hedge. Spiky plants are recommended by the police, I asked them about it for my house 8 yrs ago.

Over here we use bourgainvillia - wooden thorns an inch long :eek:

Brendan

so how come m.o.d establishments & prisons can use razor wire?

Mart

it is not illegal to use deterrants, but it must be a detterant and not a deliberate means to injure, hidden or inconspicuos barbed wire is a deliberate attempt to cause injury as are the, imo, nutters who embed shards of glass in the tops of walls.

The landlord of my warehouse has a electric fence all the way round his garden of about 2 acres, half of which fronts on to a main road. Its been there for about 10 years so far?? It has yellow signs dotted along every 20 metres.

house up the road has electric wire across top of his wall, his back garden at the side is next to pavement wall is about 8 feet

We've over the last few years taken down the barb and razor wire. Just in case anyone hurts themselves breaking on to base. :cuckoo:

Reminds me of my student days in Middlesbrough; glass cemented into the top of a wall - some house owners used to use it as a form of decoration - also kept the cats out!


Nik

It really is quite disgraceful that if we do take such steps to secure our own property against burglars that they can sue you if they get a cut etc while breaking into the property.

What on earth has happened to this country when the criminals get priority over us when they are breaking the law!

Les :(

You can do it, all this 'it's illegal' is balls....

As stated its covered under the OLA 1984, which places a duty of care on landlords/owners to protect 'trespassers' from harm. But ONLY harm that isn't obvious (such as a hidden danger).

You should place warning signs near the barbed wire that CLEARLY state that barbed wire has been installed, and also the signs must clearly describe this danger so that even a 'child' could also understand the danger posed.

You must be careful that there are no allurements, and that the fence, wall and barbed wire are maintained at all times. This is important as if you're aware of gaps in the wire and people crawling through these gaps you would be liable under the act for any harm caused to them.

There are several case laws surrounding this (trespass) and as long as you stop short of laying landmines you'll be fine :thumb:

Still a ridiculous situation.

Les

Agreed 100% Les...

Thanks to all. Barbed wire it is then. It will be clearly visible and at its lowest point will be approx 8 foot off the ground so there is no possibilty of anyone being caught up in it 'accidentally' ie children playing etc

Brendans idea is good though and I'll investigate that further

That's exactly what I was about to type :idea:

It is very legal, all you need to do is put up signage... I looked into this quite seriously when I was renting a scumpit in a scumpit area about 8 years ago...

have you thought about carpet gripper rods, they can be treated the same colour as the fence

They would be more difficult to see and therefore be 'concealed', hence more chance of being sued

We put it up all the time Deep, residential, comercial and agricultural, make sure you put up warning signs.

12V or less. I think there are a couple of 24V systems, but most run off a car battery or a rechargeable 9v battery. You can hold the wire for several seconds without too much pain - we used to play that game when I was about 7. I seriously advise you not to pee on one though...


M

They have liability insurance, you dont :thumb:

AFAIK its not illegal to use it if you make it clear its there BUT you can be held liable for injury..

Its not illegal full stop, the only difference is that if you fail to adequatley warn trespassers then you will be liable if they are harmed.. but only to the person, not property...