>>>>>>>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1075809/No-barbed-wire--hurt-thieves-allotment-holders-told.html
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I guess I'd better wash the curare off the tips of my allotment fence's staves then, and remove the punji stick pits!
>>>>>
>>>>>Plain wire @ 20kV would be non-obvious, but probably effective ( beg )
>>>>
>>>>There is no power up at the allotments
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Seriously, it might be a job for the Mosquito - heard it's popular over there ...
>>>>
>>>>Does not compute
>>>
>>>Solar power. It's used to electrify many miles of fence around here..
>>
>>
>>Some bugger would get in and steal the solar panels. Someone actually stole the cubic tarp I kept over the BBQ, behind the shed.
>>
>>Besides, elec fence is no good if it's made of wooden staves.
>
>I'm curous about allotments. Are they rented? Leased? Do you technically 'own' the land or what? Does everyone have an allotment? Is it expensive? How large are they? How is it different than someone breaking into a shed on a farmer's land? Don't the same land rights and protection pertain?

They are rented, owned by the council, and are c. £40 a year at the mo. Not everyone has one - there's a waiting list and we had to wait c 3 years although we found that the land hadn't been touched for more than that (annoyingly). I think cos there's one guy in charge of all the allotment sites around the city, and all the plots within each, so it's hard for him to keep track of who has what where and when.

I'm not very good at estimating land size but if you look at my message re: geog anomoly, message #060273, which no one replied to, you can get an idea.

The plot on Google Earth can be seen as just a rectangle of green (what I mean about not having been touched) which I've since developed to a great extent.

As for the law and breaking in, I guess it's the same as a farmer or anyone anywhere: criminal damage, theft. But who can stop/enforce any such transgressions?