A DISPUTE over a disabled parking bay ended in an arrest...after one neighbour threatened to stab another.

Mary Nunn, 49, of Broomfield Avenue, Leigh, has a 23-year-old son, James Ireland, who suffers from spina bifida and finally had a disabled parking bay painted outside her home last Friday, after a year of going back and forth with Southend Council.

However, before the paint was even dry, a neighbour, who also has a blue badge parking permit, had parked in the spot and has yet to move his vehicle in five days.

The bay is not specifically reserved for use by Mrs Nunn and her family but in retaliation she has parked her disabled access van across the end of her neighbour’s drive.

She then told how she saw her neighbour attach two ropes to it and try to move the van, prompting her to go out and confront him.

She said: “He said if I parked across his drive again then he would knife me. My 13-year-old daughter was in the house, heard this and called the police and they arrested him.

“The police said they’d seen lots of parking disputes but this was the worst. “When they asked him why he parked in the disabled bay they said he just responded ‘because I can’.

“The bay is not just for us, nurses need to park there when they come to see James, as well as spina bifida he has diabetes and epilepsy as well and needs lots of medication.

“I just don’t know why someone would park there, he’s got plenty of space on his own drive and it’s further away from his house.”

Police confirmed they were called to an incident outside Mrs Nunn’s home on Monday and that a man was arrested.

A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: “Police were contacted at 1.10pm on Monday, January 18 with reports of a disturbance outside an address in Broomfield Avenue, Leigh.

“Officers attended and arrested a 60-year-old man from Leigh on suspicion of making threats to kill. He was released from police custody and no further action will be taken in relation to the matter.”