fire escape easement

[Guest sharon welly]

I currently rent a shop which has an enclosed lane that runs along the side of it. The lane belongs to my shop. The shop around the back have a right of easement over my lane, to be used solely as a fire escape... they have recently changed my lock on the front door (and re painted it badly as they had damaged it in the process) Their are a couple of issues with this, the front door opens in, and cannot be changed as we are in a conservation area, the lock they have put on the door will not self close, so, if they have to use the door in the event of a fire, the door will remain open/unlocked, and therefore invalidate my insurance... (As it can only be re-closed with a key from the inside) but the thing that has irritated me the most, is, today my stepladder and yard brush had been taken, neither of which were an obstruction as they were leaning against the wall... 

I suppose my question is, how much right do they have over my lane? Can they just enter it whenever they wish and remove my things... and is there anything I can do about the lock? I have asked them to put one on that will close the door if it needs to be used and they refuse

[Tom Sutton]

This is a legal matter and will depend on the condition contained in the fire escape easement you should contact your solicitor, as the lane belongs to you they should follow the condition in the easement.

Check out http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Easement

[Guest Sharon welly]

Thank you for this. I did think that might be the case, but as we are in a small town, I kind of hoped we could sort things out with discussion. Sadly, I don't think this will be the case! 

By the way Tom, I am originally from Prescot... Small world eh?! 

[Tom Sutton]

The only thing that would be required by a fire risk assessment would be a a written legal document to allow your neighbour to cross you land and in this case it is an easement. You could put pressure on your neighbour by threatening to revoke the easement if they do not comply with your conditions, but I do not know if is legally possible that's why you need a solicitor.

I am a newcomer to Prescot  have only been here 30 years. :)