Woman's car's vandalised with 'selfish cow' message after parking row
The car owner claimed that a woman angrily knocked on her passenger door before abusing her. She later found that her car had been vandalised.
A woman's car was vandalised with the words "selfish cow" scrawled in pink lipstick after she had an angry exchange with another woman over a parking spot.
Alx Chibouni, the owner of Arthurs Butchers and Delicatessen in Topsham, Devon, was in her car on Wednesday with her two-year-old in the back.
She was approached by an elderly woman that morning and claims the woman knocked on her passenger window before directing a torrent of abuse in her direction.
Alx says the woman was angry at her for parking in a loading bay while waiting for a delivery, something she was allowed to do.
Related articles
She added that she simply wound her window up and tried to ignore the woman's abuse.
Alx later discovered that the woman had written "selfish cow" on her car with lipstick.
She recalled: "I was sat in the car by the shop because I was picking up deliveries to take to East Budleigh and other places we deliver to. Normally I park directly outside the butchers but on that particular day a removal van was parked there so I parked in the loading bay and didn't leave my car.
"Another removal van was parked in front of me and the driver said to be careful as a woman who lived nearby was not happy. I then had a knock on the passenger window so I wound down the window and a woman in her 70s asked if I was parked there a minute ago and called me a 'selfish cow' and said she had tried to get her car up there. It can't have been me because no cars were waiting when I parked up.
"She was very, very aggressive and started a torrent of abuse and was shouting so I shut the window because I won't have that. She kept knocking on the window but I didn't look at her and just sat there. She left and that's when I noticed she had written 'selfish cow' on the car.
"I was not obstructing anything and she didn't me a chance to explain what I was doing there. I was angry and upset by what happened. I often get odd looks when I am parked up but I didn't expect to get a reaction like that, especially with my two-year-old in the back of the car.
READ MORE:
Enid Blyton novels being HIDDEN in libraries [INSIGHT]
Council leader who ordered trees to be felled lives in tree-lined road [ANALYSIS]
Mystery after Ukrainian teen’s death from 'multiple injuries' [INSIGHT]
"Topsham is protective of its elderly which I love and everybody looks out for everybody else, but you can't have people no matter what their age being verbally abusive and vandalising things.
"If this woman had done what she did to someone else she might have got a very different reaction. I don't hold any anger towards her but I am concerned people think it's okay to act like that and could be met with resistance at some point."
Alx added that the incident showed the need for more parking spaces in Topsham as locals and businesses are getting frustrated with the lack of options.
She said: "It is so difficult to park in Topsham. I would say nine times out of 10 I can't park outside my shop and they don't give business permits at all in Topsham, only permits for residents, so we can't even get permission for our van to load and unload so it's really difficult. The situation is ridiculous.
"You do get some people using the loading bays when they shouldn't but I was within my right to be using it. The parking situation in Topsham is pushing people out of town to shop in other places."
