The highway was 15 metres wide and pedestrianised. Shop owners displayed goods outside their shops, projecting no more than five percent of the total width of the road. The magistrates acquitted them of obstruction.
Held: The appeal was allowed and the case remitted to them with a direction to convict. A possible exception to the rule in Seekings was on the principle of de minimis, where there was a fractional projection. Dyson J held that the de minimis principle could not be applied. That principle was reserved for cases of fractional obstructions, which this case was clearly not.
Judges:
Dyson J, McCowan LJ
Citations:
(1995) 159 JP 682
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – Seekings v Clarke 1961
Lord Parker CJ said: ‘It is perfectly clear that anything which substantially prevents the public from having free access over the whole of the highway which is not purely temporary in nature is an unlawful obstruction’. . .
Cited by:
Cited – Herrick and Another v Kidner and Another Admn 17-Feb-2010
Psychological Obstruction to Public Footpath
A public footpath crossed the appellants’ land. They constructed a gateway across it which they now accepted had been a significant obstruction of the right of way. The local authority served a notice requiring its removal, including the stone . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Land
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.401659