Desperate residents resorted to leaving upturned wheelie bins in the road in an attempt to keep hold of a parking space.
Wheelie bins were laid side-by-side in a busy Birmingham street in a bid to stop other drivers pulling in.
But that didn't stop one driver, with a people carrier seen double parked next to the bins, narrowing the lanes for approaching traffic.
A shocked passer-by who saw the scene in Oldfield Road, Balsall Heath, told Birmingham Live : "I was walking back to my car from a funeral and I saw it on the way.
"The bins were flat and did not have waste in them. The white people carrier parked there next to the bins.
"It was double parked next to the bins. The car was sticking out into the road. The bin was placed so the lids did not open. It was ridiculous. It was taking up two spaces. There were no dropped kerbs. It was not anyone's driveway."
The wheelie bins were the latest in a long line of obstacles used by householders to desperately claim blink-and-you'll-miss them on-road spaces.
In March, fuming residents resorted to using rock-filled trollies to reserve parking spaces.
Two trollies were seen placed facing each other outside homes in Sparkbrook, weighted down with slabs of concrete. Rocks had also been wedged behind the wheels to secure them in place.
Chad Miah was trying to find a parking space near his friend's house when he came across a wheelie bin blocking an empty parking space, when he went to move it Chad was astonished to find the bin was chained to the ground.
Chad's friend was getting married and the only parking spot nearby had a wheelie bin anchored into the tarmac blocking anyone form using it, Birmingham Live reports.
Chad tried to wrench the obstacle free of its moorings near his friend's property in Handsworth, Birmingham, but found it was secured with a chain and a padlock to an anchor deep in the road.
Furious Chad told reporters: "My mate lives opposite and he was getting married on that day.
"I went to move the bin, but realised the person who did this had drilled it to the ground with a bolt and hook. The bin was attached to a metal chain and had a padlock on it.
"They must have gone through some effort to do it, just to save a parking space. I was yanking it, but it wasn't moving. I've seen it all now."
Residents have gone to extraordinary lengths over the years to reserve much-coveted parking spaces in front of their homes.
Some have placed cones, sofas as well as council bins to make sure they have somewhere to park.
