DESPERATE families in Ongar are pleading for help after suffering vile abuse at the hands of motorists parking outside their homes.
The situation, dubbed "A Nightmare on Castle Street" by anxious residents, has come to a head following a two-year struggle with drivers nabbing spaces opposite their homes on a daily basis.
The road is so narrow between house numbers 20 and 40 that when a vehicle is parked opposite the properties, access to the residents' driveways and their own kerbside parking spaces is completely blocked.
Homeowners are therefore being forced to find other places to park, sometimes a long way from their properties.
On Sunday, mother-of-three Claire Bodiam received a threatening letter from a driver, in response to a note left on their windscreen by somebody else.
The note began: "How dare you leave your arrogant note on my vehicle."
The writer then accused the intended recipient, presumed to be a resident of Castle Street, of blocking access to the road for emergency vehicles.
The angry author added: "I will be parking here again and should you leave another note, I will forward it to Essex Police as I will deem you are now harassing me," before going on to threaten prosecution.
Mrs Bodiam, whose youngest boy is 22 months old, was left shaken after receiving the note by mistake.
"I don't want any aggravation because I've got three children but when I get notes like that through my letter box, well, it's now getting out of hand," she said.
"It could get to fever pitch down here and just get worse."
The 39-year-old, who is a member of Ongar Mums, added: "I can see someone completely losing the plot down here.
"I am quite an easygoing person but with the children you feel vulnerable in your house and to get that note really upset me and my husband."
Her neighbour, Tina Ruskin, who was once called an "idiot" during an exchange with a motorist, has been lobbying Epping Forest District Council and Essex County Council for the past two years to get parking restrictions introduced opposite their homes.
"It's so annoying when you come home from work to find that you cannot park outside your own home," she said.
"We are just calling for two yellow lines and we're fed up with being fobbed off."
Miss Ruskin says that as well as blocking access for emergency vehicles and refuse trucks, the cars parking next to the wall makes life very difficult for residents with children and elderly relatives.
Residents have sent several letters and a petition to the North Essex Parking Partnership – which decides on parking schemes in the Epping Forest district – but they have been told there is no scope for changes to the road at present.
Miss Ruskin insists that residents have always remained polite when dealing with motorists in a confrontation.
She added: "All we want is for the council to do this for us, we could even do it ourselves if they gave us a pot of paint."
A spokeswoman for Epping Forest District Council said: "Any new request for parking restrictions are within the remit of the North Essex Parking Partnership. The final decision on a scheme is taken by the Partnership Board and has to be supported by the relevant district or borough council.
"Epping Forest District Council has asked the partnership to consider a scheme for this location. Once an investigation has been carried out, a ranking score is allocated and it will then have to compete with other schemes across the district."
