Denser housing and more cars than ever have led to a wave of stress sweeping through our neighbourhoods in the form of ‘parking rage’.

A new survey from Churchill Car Insurance reveals that as many as 10 million Britons get angry when someone parks in their space, with over five million pledging to take action.

The survey also found that three million ‘territorial’ drivers actually sit at the window spying on the ‘space thief’ waiting for the driver to go back to their car and then they confront them. A further 2.6 million angry motorists write a note and leave it on the offending car’s windscreen.

Over a quarter of a million want to take revenge by finding out where the person lives and block their space and a quarter of a million would even feel like towing the car out of the way.

Darren McCauley, Head of Churchill Car Insurance said, “We know that driving can be stressful, but our research shows that this tension is now spilling over into our neighbourhoods. Parking spaces are now priceless and we are clearly marking out our territory.’’

Over 2.5 million motorists said that they have actually fallen out with their neighbours over where they park. Two million drivers have even resorted to ‘guarding’ their parking space by either moving a second car there, putting up a ‘No Parking’ sign and even using ‘borrowed’ cones.

McCauley said, "Stress and parking are two major causes of car accidents, so it’s obvious that with the battle for space in the neighbourhood, tension will be rife. We would encourage drivers to remain calm when parking and to avoid getting into unnecessary disputes with neighbours.”

Other findings from the survey include:

• More men (2.9 million) than women (1.8 million) would actually watch out for people going to their cars to confront them about parking in ‘their’ space.
• Welsh drivers are most likely to argue with their neighbours over parking than anyone in the rest of the UK.
• Young drivers (17 – 24 year olds) get annoyed with people parking in their space and fall out with neighbours more than any other age group.