A tense stalemate threatened to explode when a man stubbornly stood guard over an empty parking lot and single-handedly pulled up a van to fix it up.
Footage shows the van attempting to enter a loading zone on Hill Street, Cabramatta in southwestern Sydney, while the man on foot firmly blocks it.
The van can be heard honking relentlessly, but the man refuses to give in and waits patiently for a woman in a ute to show up and carefully reverse.
The stunned bus driver then receives a barrage of assault and middle fingers from the couple on Saturday before finally driving off to find another park instead.
Video of the flashpoint has divided the internet – with opinions on who was wrong.
A man from South Sydney warded off a van waiting at a park by standing on the spot, much to the dismay of passers-by and the outrage of locals online (pictured)
A witness told a Cabramatta Community social media page that the man had been in the park for quite some time before the video began.
Stunned onlookers watched as curses and honks sprang out of the standoff.
When an Isuzu ute arrived and immediately climbed the sidewalk in front of the room, the older man’s motive was clear.
The man hastily waved his concerned partner into space as he guarded the park from the honking van behind him.
But the van’s honking was ultimately in vain.
The spot was cleared from under his nose thanks to an unorthodox reverse parking maneuver in which the ute overstepped the footpath to undercut the van.
When the ute was safely in the parking lot, the man turned his attention to the ute, screaming and gesturing wildly.
When the man who reserved the park jumped into his car, his wife, who had parked it, wasted no time irritating the van driver (pictured)
The woman turned the van away with the middle finger after the driver gave up waiting at the park where her partner had been
He then jumped into the driver’s seat as his partner got out of the vehicle. She wasted no time picking up where he left off.
She began to bounce off the van’s driver who had been waiting at the loading dock as the older man adjusted her hurried parking space.
A final “f*ck you” and middle finger from the older man sent the bus driver off when he finally gave up and started looking for another park.
Some applauded the van driver for his patience as they shot at the man standing in the car compartment
Passers-by eventually dispersed after seeing the incident, but on a community group on Facebook, locals were outraged.
“This would test one’s patience. So selfish to think they are entitled to a car spot by stepping on it! Luckily he wasn’t pushed a bit,” wrote one Cabramatta woman.
Some had more militant responses as tensions ran high in Sydney’s parking feuds.
“Two options for dealing with such people, either block the ute so no one can park or go elsewhere and come back and fix the car,” one man said.
“I would have come back and cut all his tires. He can park there permanently until he pays someone to tow his car to a tire shop,” said another cheeky local.
“I thought the end result of this in Cabramatta would be a car with a key? How hard is it folks? No car, no park. It’s a parking lot and not a parking lot for people,” said another.
However, some believed that the man was within his rights to reserve the parking space by standing on it
Other residents sympathized with both residents of the ute and regretted parking in the suburb.
“I probably tried to unload the Ute for two hours without success,” said one man.
“People are so toxic, it doesn’t have the spot for your average sedan, he probably keeps the spot for the ute to charge something,” commented one compassionate viewer.
“He saw it first, so it’s his place, first in the first serve (sic). It’s just the untold rule and sometimes your duty as a passenger,” said another woman.
Another man from South Sydney said incidents like the one in the video were the reason he stopped driving through the suburb.