Well, on the plus side he saves on watering and cuts down on grass mowing.

======================

500 'stolen' BIKES are discovered in his back garden in pile so big that it is visible from Google Earth

By Tom Pyman For Mailonline
09:29 EDT 23 Mar 2022 , updated 14:05 EDT 23 Mar 2022

• Locals have been left furious by the mess left behind at the house in Oxfordshire

• One neighbour had to call the council to help deal with rat problems as a result

• Police have now arrested a man, 54, who was released pending further enquiries

A neighbour from hell has been arrested after a mountain of 500 bikes, so large they can be seen from a Google Earth satellite, was found in his back garden.

Angry locals living next door to the house in Oxfordshire, say they have been plagued by rats as a result of the haul, which is said to be building up by the week.

After a series of complaints, a 54-year-old man inhabiting the house was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and possession of the criminal property.

The man was later released under investigation.

According to local neighbours police were at the address sorting through the hundreds of bikes.


A neighbour from hell has been arrested after a mountain of 500 bikes, so large they can be seen from a Google Earth satellite, was found in his back garden



The haul of bikes in the garden is so large it can even be seen via a Google Earth satellite



Angry locals living next door to the house in Oxfordshire, say they have been plagued by rats as a result of the haul, which is said to be building up by the week

Colleen Butler, 53, has lived on the street for 32 years and says the neighbour has been there for nearly a decade.

'I started reporting his festering collection of bikes four years ago, but it's been going on for about five years,' she said.

'I made the first report because the amount of bikes was just ridiculous.

'There must have been at least 500 of them. When I spoke to him he said they were going to be sent to Africa for needy kids but, as you can see, they never went to Africa.

'The bikes are coming in by vanloads and people bring them here most nights and during the daytime as well.

'I've had rats, I've had arguments with him and other neighbours - I had my fence blown down and people were rude to me (assuming she owned the bicycles). It has caused me so much anxiety.

'I called the local council about the rat problems caused by the bikes and I ended up paying for the pest control myself - the council told me that 'rats don't nest in bicycles'.'

'Three years ago my dad got me a dog for my protection, I was so scared. I feel like the only person fighting him.

'They all go on about him but I think they are intimidated by him - he's gripped people up, because he thinks they're taking photos. He's tried to intimidate me but he can't - I don't get intimidated.'


After a series of complaints, police intervened earlier this week and held a 54-year-old man. He has since been released pending further enquiries



Colleen Butler, 53, has lived on the same street for 32 years and says the neighbour has been there for nearly a decade



The disgruntled neighbour explained that some 167 bicycles were removed from the man's home in 2017. However they were all returned shortly afterwards - her belief is this is because there simply wasn't enough room to store them elsewhere


The disgruntled neighbour explained that some 167 bicycles were removed from the man's home in 2017.

However they were all returned shortly afterwards - her belief is this is because there simply wasn't enough room to store them elsewhere.

Ms Butler continued: 'I've had conversations with him but everything he tells you doesn't come true. He lives in cloud-cuckoo land.

'I've fought it for four years and I'm still fighting it now. It's devaluing my house - who is going to want to buy my house with all of that next door?

'At the time of his arrest I thought 'great, something is finally being done' - I was in my bedroom and looked out of my window and there was a lot of police out there. I heard the police say open the door and he ignored them.

'They told him to stand away form the door and went in - 10 minutes later he was out. It's so frustrating because nothing was being done.

'What I'm scared of now is because those bikes have been taken away, the rest of the bikes are going to stay there.

'I don't want that. I want them gone. A garden is for children to play in.'

Ms Butler, whose modern, cosy garden filled with dog toys and a well kept wooden patio, sits completely at odds with her neighbour.

The funny thing to me is that lady looks and dresses a lot like a lady in our neighborhood where I grew up. She collected Cats, lot and lots of them, AKA crazy cat lady

Had four bikes in my garage for years. Never ridden, couldn't give them away.
Finally set them out with the trash.

Bikes were commonly stolen, traded, and parked in garage sales for decades in small town America.

I went looking for some - to repurpose the wheels for a deer hauler - they have dried up completely. None.

What this man is doing might be a nice to do idea, it does highlight that British youth aren't riding around the neighborhood to an open pitch to play a game or see each other. Cell phones have made them static and in another ten years the nation will be obese.

There is the real story.

While it’s an atrocious mess, it is his property. It seems as if there is no zoning laws against what he is doing. While I would not want him as my neighbor, there is part of me that thinks, damn lady, mind your own fucking business.

How do bicycles attract rats?

And I thought I had too many bicycles….

Well he is crazy, there’s that.

I’m more annoyed by yet again horrible journalism standards. “Hoarded so many bikes the pile could be seen by satellite image”. That’s as fucking stupid as getting excited by a swatch watch made of bioceramic that says Omega.

Apparently I’ve hoarded so many cars that they can be seen by satellite imagery. In fact using that picture as a guide you could see a single fucking bike on Google satellite imagery.

Tell you what fuck nuts reporter. If you can see it with the naked fucking eye from the ISS then report it. If it shows up from a satellite that todays has what used to be considered spy satellite capabilities who gives a fuck?

Sorry for the journalism rant. That is a lot of bikes. Glad I don’t live next door and glad it’s not a Florida man story. Lol

We had a local family a few blocks away like that. Had 3 or 4 sons, one my age, the rest older. When I was a kid, whenever neighborhood bicycles got stolen, which was often, we always blamed another local family of poor, but earned reputation.

When I was in my early 30's I drove by the house one day, I guess the family had sold or mom and dad had finally passed. Out front there was a pile of bikes on the road side, maybe 1/3 to close to 1/2 of the size of those photos. Probably enough to fill two large roll off dumpsters. It was amazing and the great bicycle mystery was finally solved.

As has been said many times before "Everyone has to have a hobby".

quote:

Originally posted by Blackmore:
How do bicycles attract rats?

They don’t, it’s the area underneath, in and amongst the bike pile the rats enjoy. Hawks can’t get to them so they (rats) breed and begin nesting. Just like at a junkyard…old cars don’t attract rats.

How many of you would want this mess next door to you?

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
And I thought I had too many bicycles….

Is there a sat image of your watch collection?

quote:

Originally posted by Jelly:
The funny thing to me is that lady looks and dresses a lot like a lady in our neighborhood where I grew up. She collected Cats, lot and lots of them, AKA crazy cat lady

I'm pretty sure she cuts her own hair.

Mind your own business? Really? I bet you wouldn’t be so cavalier if that idiot was on the other side of your fence.

I hate HOA’s but this is one reason they exist because people just can’t police themselves to a reasonable level.

I wonder what the inside of the house looked like.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Mind your own business? Really? I bet you wouldn’t be so cavalier if that idiot was on the other side of your fence.

I hate HOA’s but this is one reason they exist because people just can’t police themselves to a reasonable level.

I stand for classic liberal values such as free speech, private property, & small government at a micro level as well as a macro level. What someone considers an eyesore is completely subjective. A pile of junk in someone's yard is none of your business until it becomes a hazard beyond the property line. That appears to be the case in this article. You don't need an HOA to regulate that.

An HOA or neighbors complaining about something they consider an eyesore on someone's property is about as relevant as me telling someone, "I think your face is so ugly, it shouldn't be allowed to be seen uncovered in public. There should be a law against it."

HOAs are the epitome of Karen syndrome. I got a letter from my HOA last week about a car in my driveway w/ a fitted car cover over it. The HOA described it as a tarp and says it's a violation. It's not a tarp, but even if it were, that should be irrelevant. HOA can pound sand.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Well he is crazy, there’s that.

I’m more annoyed by yet again horrible journalism standards. “Hoarded so many bikes the pile could be seen by satellite image”. That’s as fucking stupid as getting excited by a swatch watch made of bioceramic that says Omega.

Apparently I’ve hoarded so many cars that they can be seen by satellite imagery. In fact using that picture as a guide you could see a single fucking bike on Google satellite imagery.

Tell you what fuck nuts reporter. If you can see it with the naked fucking eye from the ISS then report it. If it shows up from a satellite that todays has what used to be considered spy satellite capabilities who gives a fuck?

Sorry for the journalism rant. That is a lot of bikes. Glad I don’t live next door and glad it’s not a Florida man story. Lol

The "satellite image" statement is bad, and you can definitely see a much smaller "pile of bikes" on satellite imagery, but it's not quite as exaggerated as the image makes it seem - because there's another big error.

The Google Earth photo is labeled "The haul of bikes in the garden is so large it can even be seen via a Google Earth satellite."

Little error: Google doesn't have satellites, they buy satellite imagery from commercial satellite imaging companies.

Big error: That isn't a satellite photo, it's an aerial photo. It was taken from a camera on an aircraft.

High resolution commercial satellite imagery typically has pixels that correspond to 1-2 meters (3-6 feet) square on the ground. There are some EXTREMELY expensive providers that can do ~30cm (~1 foot) pixels but they do small areas at a time on demand for people who want to pay for it.

So, with good commercial satellite imagery, seeing one bike might be iffy, but it definitely wouldn't take 500, you could easily see a "pile" of 5-10 bikes.

BECAUSE of these limitations, map services like Google don't rely just on satellite imagery. They DO use satellite imagery, but for high-resolution imagery, especially of urban areas, they use aerial imagery, typically with pixels that correspond to a few inches on the ground, which is what the photo in the article is.

Of course, Google labels the button that turns the imagery on and off "satellite," because no one really cares, but it's really a mix of satellite and aerial imagery depending on location and zoom level.

I've made some maps using satellite and aerial imagery. I think one of them had both, I can look later and post a comparison of satellite vs aerial imagery resolution if anyone is interested.

If the neighborhood allowed you to erect big beautiful walls and had good size yards and if the guy isn’t a total tool I wouldn’t mind this guy as my neighbor.

Anytime I need a hard to find bicycle part I’d have a good chance of finding it at my neighborhood bike part collector next door. It would beat waiting months for a lower suspension part to ship from Amsterdam.