Moment pedestrian refused to move in car park stand-off with driver 'as he tried to save space for his own family who were "miles away"'

Daily Mail​

06-05-2025

This is the astonishing moment a pedestrian refused to move in a three minute car park standoff with a driver as he tried to reserve a parking space for his family by standing in it.
Jennifer Plumbley, 48, had been queuing with her friend for 45 minutes to get into the busy Richmond Park car park in south London during the bank holiday weekend.
But when her pal Helen finally found a space to park her Ford Ka there was a bearded man standing in the empty spot.
She indicates and says out of her window 'excuse me' as she tries to manoeuvre into the bay, but the male wearing a white Levi's T-shirt clutches his mobile phone and refuses to budge.
Helen pleads for him to move before explaining that Jennifer, who captured the bizarre moment on video, has a bad leg.
Despite her protestations, he shrugs his shoulders and points before telling the pair he is waiting for his family to arrive.
The duo repeatedly are heard asking him to please move out of the way, before the three-minute stand off finally comes to an end when a bypasser intervenes.
The man is then heard saying: 'Because you [the bypasser] said it nicely, I will move.'
Jennifer was visiting the royal park with her friend and dog, Milo, on Saturday during the scorching weather.
The video has gone viral and viewed more than two million times after she posted the clip on her TikTok account with the caption 'It's a car park, not a stand park'.
'It's not morally right,' Jennifer, from Leicester, said.
'You wouldn't do it in the supermarket car park. What would he have done if someone else had stood in a parking space?
'It was so busy because it was a Bank Holiday weekend and the sun was out.
'It was one in, one out, it took us 45 minutes just to get in the car park. It was awful.
'We couldn't find anywhere to park, the only space available was the one with the man in it.
'I don't do confrontation but there was nowhere else to park. We recorded it to show we weren't being rude and just in case anything happened.
'We were a third of the way into the space and we asked him to politely move. He'd parked his car and he was standing in the space for his family.
'We tried to explain how long it had taken us to get into the car park. They were probably in the same 45 minute queue but he kept saying they were two minutes away.
'We couldn't get over the fact that he was being so obstinate about it. We got the attendant and he said because he'd been asked politely he would move.
'We had a lovely day. We were concerned the car would be damaged when we got back but it was fine.'
Others were left outraged by the man's 'entitlement' and praised Ms Plumbley for standing her ground.
One person commented: 'He's so rude, typical entitled person. Thinks he can do this to women. If it was a bloke it would be different.'
Another added: 'Who on earth thinks standing in a parking spot is normal behaviour?'
A third person said: 'You can't save parking spaces. Simple. Well done ladies.'
Another viewer joked: 'What's this? A new version of towels on sunbeds?'
Other viewers suggested that she should have let the man have the spot.
One person said: 'I don't agree with standing in parking spaces to hold them but the sun is shining.
'I couldn't be bothered. Would much rather just park somewhere else and enjoy my day.'