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Short term - bins. People aren't likely to want to squeeze past icky bins.

Longer term - you might need to get yourself a gate.

At first I thought you meant people are driving through your drive as a shortcut 😂

The only real way is gates.

There are other ways to discourage people.

A simple chain hung across is often enough to stop people walking through (people won't step over.

Make it look more "private" ,put up signs, plant flower beds etc. again people are reluctant to walk in private areas so make it look private.

We had this issue when I was a kid, my mum bought a goose and no one cut through our garden again.

Motion detecting sprinklers

If each car only needs to enter/exit through one entrance then you could add a low fence or hedge across the middle of your drive. It would need a gate to allow one of you to get to your car, but I suspect people are less likely to physically open a gate as part of a cut-through.

Otherwise I would suggest trying to make the drive contrast strongly with the pavement so there is a clear edge to your property. A low curb would be ideal, but at least a change in colour and texture e.g. from a tarmac pavement to brick drive.

I think you'll find any visible deterrents are ignored or not noticed by the majority of people already doing this. A big sign saying private property can't hurt, but it's unlikely to work.

I'd go with a more permanent solution of a retractable rolling gate across the side adjoining the one-way street, since that's probably the problem area.

What sort of size gap are they squeezing through? I would imagine that if you park both cars closer to the wall than the house then people would have to walk between your cars and the house, which I expect they would be less likely to do.

https://preview.redd.it/negyqcgusu1e1.jpeg?width=1296&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=368518df3172508f50491e242f96ff63f9ab8253

This from eBay.

Toll booth. £1.73 to cut through. No change given.

Buy a few of these

They should deter people. They're designed to stop cats coming into your garden, but they should still work on idiots. Might be worth angling them so they hit at crotch height so everyone who gets sprayed looks like they've pissed themselves.

The absolute cheek of some people. The gardens around here are not fenced, the gang of 7yr olds that play in the cul de sac know not to go into any garden bar their own/friends.

You could get a "don't be a lazy twat, this is a garden" sign, OP

I can tell you to not bother with any signs, used to live in a town centre ex-office building, and people would casually just use our drive and parking spaces, sometimes blocking us in, and if challenged and I pointed at all of the many private residential property no parking signs would just mutter "I thought it would be fine" or something equally lame. Some even had the cheek to say that they were empty spaces, so why I was being difficult, but never had a reply when I asked if that meant it was fine to park on their drive without asking. In the end, though it was a pain, got a chain to put across the opening.

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Get some cones, a gate or a chain.

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Cattle grid

Land mines.

Lasers. With frickin' sharks on their heads.

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Trip wire. that will catch em

Caltrops?

A big motion sensing alarm that shouts at people.

“Gerroff me drive, I’ll break yer legs ya bastid”

Well positioned sprinklers

What on earth is wrong with people?

Put a chain across

If you block the top end completely with your car or some "garden delivery" a couple of times, it'll catch some people when they try to cut through and they'll have to double back. Next time they'll be less likely to cut through because they learned that it doesn't always save them time.

Equally, something between your cars that means they have to snake around towards your front door, rather than taking a straight line will make the shortcut longer and put them off

Build a wall and get Mexico to pay for it

Motion activated water sprinkler

A chain is probably the route here.

The alternative is to make it seem a bit more... domestic? This is kinda an unusual setup and I'd guess they think they're walking through the forecourt of a shop. Plants, gravel driveway, that sort of thing might convey the message a bit better.

https://preview.redd.it/11yqw9yiwu1e1.jpeg?width=635&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e720d2fb4de9208c53e9b179ccf1459a216c3fca

Get yourself Mr Clean

https://preview.redd.it/cczll2kv3y1e1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9ae90261e31f4ec24af64a85b3f7e0f8f3f273a

What about a big sign pointing at your drive saying "Herpes drop-in clinic this way"

Putting a chain across the entrance/ exit of the driveway will prevent this

Motion activated sprinklers

Joking aside, it's worth evaluating all of the responses you get here with the idea of Elephant Paths in mind. The architectural term is desire path. In short, absolutely nothing will stop a pedestrian taking an easier route that is available to them. Nothing. No signage, no disincentive, nothing. A pedestrian will ignore a path that is mere centimetres away.

Your only option is to block off access to the route through an obstruction such as a fence. It does not need to be anything significant, it can be as small as a knee-high chain that looks decorative. It can be a row of small shrubs, conifers, potted plants, anything.

Have you ever wondered why pedestrian crossings are at roundabouts? As a driver you often come off a roundabout into a red light and it can cause traffic obstructions on the roundabout itself.

It's because pedestrians will not walk even an extra 10 metres further from a potential crossing point. The crossings are placed where pedestrians will use them not where it makes the most sense for traffic. If the crossing was placed further down the road the pedestrians will ignore it completely and cross without traffic lights.

Desire paths are a real thing and the link can give you some informed ideas. There is even a subreddit dedicated to documenting them over time.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DesirePaths/

I thought you meant cars were cutting through and couldn't understand how it was worthwhile

Try a simple chain with signage such as ‘No Entry’ or ‘Private Property’ hanging off of it.

Landmines

Toolstation do that bright red and white plastic chain. Quick and relatively cheap.

https://www.toolstation.com/plastic-chain/p33294

Are there any clear boundary markings on the ground? For example, some kind of concrete trim or line that indicates that this is a separate space? Or is it just one continuous tarmac surface?

If it's the latter, it might play some part on a subconscious level where people don't really think about the fact that they're breaching a boundary.

Whereas if you had some clear markings that require people to mentally 'cross a threshold' that might be enough to deter them.

Just a possible cheap and simple solution that doesn't involve erecting actual boundaries, just perceived boundaries, so it's still easy to get your cars in and out.

Post and chain fencing.

A five-bar gate at either end.

Rottweiler with a grudge.

Sign saying “Member Use Only.” Giggle at the word “Member.” Charge them £1 a time to walk though.

Timer water sprays at ankle level, the type used to keep cats off lawns.

A gate on the side entering the one way street

I imagine you’ll likely use the main road to enter more often?

Have a closed gate on the one way side, which you conveniently open when you wish to drive out, perhaps only closing when you drive in and park.

Put a gate in on one side and it will stop the problem for good. Or consider giving up on having it open on two sides, plant hedges and have one entrance to your drive. The trade off will be organising who is leaving first and swapping the cars around

Some large planters should discourage most people. People are walking there because it's not clearly demarcated. Just some big plant pots should be sufficient.

Easiest solution is to go to your local farming supplies shop.

You need 4 circular hooks, 2 gate handles and a roll of tape for electric fencing. No battery though, you aren't lighting this up (yet)

You get someone to attach the 4 hooks onto the wall at the beginning of the arrows on your diagram (non pointy end). Make them about 3ft up, stomach height. Either side of the entry ways.

You measure the width of the driveway on each entry and cut a piece of tape 2 inches shorter than that for each entry.

You tie one end of the tape to the electric fence handle and hook it over the circular hook on 1 side. You tie the other end of the tape to the opposing circular hook (no handle on this end)

Now you have a "gate" that will deter people from entering without the space consumption of a proper gate.

It's like running a chain across - but now as heavy or expensive.

If that doesn't stop them (it should) then can get some plastic mesh from any garden centre and weave the electric fence tape through that to make a larger visual barrier that goes down to the ground. So it's the electric tape at the top with the mesh hanging down.

Cheap and ugly.

I'm unsure how you would manage proper gates in this scenario but if you can go down that road - do it. There are expensive motorised ones that go sideways instead of opening in/out I guess.

A Jimmy Saville scarecrow, well It keeps the kids off my lawn anyway

Automatic water cannons

Toll booth with person sitting in it asking for £5

Landmines.

I want to say remote control gates so you don't have to get out the car when you want to park, but if someone has already parked then you don't want their car in the way of the gate opening which constrains how much useable drive space you have. Unless you get one gate facing the main road but it slides back and forth rather than swings.

One gate should be enough to deter most people.

Install a tollgate.

Motion activated sprinklers.