Narky locals.

[theacescout]

An Englishmans home is his castle, his woodland his playground. Having paid a lot of money for it, it's my right to say it mine and that no one else can play there. I have planted many holly and hawthorn around the boundries, filled in gaps with cut down hawthorn. I am as determind to stop trespassers as they are to trespass. And all because the first person I challenged put a shotgun in my face, if no one gets in, no one can do it again !!

[Kentish Man]

I hope you reported the incident to the police? Threatening someone with a firearm is common assault. The perpetrator's firearm's certificate would also be taken away along with his gun, assuming he had one. If not, an even longer jail sentence... That's no kind of threat to make lightly and should not be tolerated.

[DuncanB]

Think it's worse than that: anyone trespassing on your property with a firearm (this includes air-weapons) is committing armed trespass, a criminal offence which carries a custodial sentence. If you were threatened with a firearm then that's much worse - I think it's a maximum 10 year sentence! On a similar note, if you're carring a gun on your own land you're not allowed to point the thing at a trespasser or threaten with it- however tempting it may be! Saying this, I've encountered trespassers when I've carried a gun (always pointing at the floor and unloaded) and it's amazing how polite they are when they see it!