Parents at two primary schools could be banned from picking up their kids amid a furious parking war with local residents.

There is regular traffic mayhem at drop-off and pick-up time on Barnes Way in Dorchester, Dorset, near St Osmund's and Manor Park schools.

Parents have been known to turn up an hour early on busy days to bag a prime parking spot.

Those who arrive later have been illegally parking their vehicles across driveways, on grass verges and on corners, according to residents.

The problem has become so bad that the homeowners have had 40 wooden stakes hammered into the verge in a bid to stop illegal parking.

One furious resident told MailOnline: 'Parents just think they have a right to do what they want and if you confront them and say please don't park there they will give you verbal abuse.'  

Locals claim they have been sworn at and met with sarcastic comments by parents who they have asked to move on while wing mirrors have also been knocked off by passing cars.

There are even allegations of the police having to be called after a physical confrontation between a parent and a parking official.

Dorset Town Council is so sick of the constant clashes that it has now proposed a no-waiting zone at peak times on the school-run.

Parents could now be banned from parking on roads around the schools between 08:00 and 09:00 and 15:00 to 16:00 from Monday to Friday

At a meeting of Dorset Town Council's planning and environment committee, councillor Molly Rennie said: 'People are again ignoring the rules. Unless we support this we will be back to chaos again. It only affects a short period of time a couple of times a day.'  

Residents claim things have got worse since a school car park was apparently closed due to a 'safety' incident.

Emma Hill, 49, who owns a hair salon, said: 'I know there have been physical confrontations and I have been sworn at when I asked someone to not block my driveway.

'They double park and there were tyre marks down the grass verges before we paid to put wooden posts in.

'There just seems to be a disrespect for private property.

'If you required the emergency services they would not be able to get through.

'I have an 87-year-old neighbour and that situation gives them terrible anxiety.'

A retired male resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was particularly bad when it rained as people did not want to walk to school.

He said: 'Parents just think they have a right to do what they want and if you confront them and say please don't park there they will give you verbal abuse.

'We decided enough was enough and paid to get the posts put in.

'When it rains people don't want to walk their children to school so it becomes gridlocked. It is chaos.

'One of my neighbours, an ex-copper, tried to take matters into his own hands and manage the traffic, but he got so much abuse he gave up.'

A middle-aged woman who lives on the road said her wing mirror had been knocked off and other vehicles had also been damaged.

She said she had heard reports that a traffic official had been punched by a parent during a particularly heated encounter.

She said: 'The rumour is that the parent punched the traffic official who challenged him about his parking, and now he gets to park at the school.

'That seems to be to be a reward for his actions.

'This all stems from them shutting the car park because of a supposed child safety incident, which means parents have nowhere to park.

'But that doesn't mean they should be rude to us.

'We need yellow lines and traffic wardens here to enforce them.'

The suburban area is home to St Osmund's Middle School and Manor Park First, which have a combined over 1,000 pupils.

Barnes Way, a small cul de sac at the entrance to St Osmund's Middle School, is now closed at school opening and closing times to reduce congestion.

But the consequence has been parents are using the adjoining suburban roads to wait at, leaving limited space for vehicles to get through.

Nick Adams, 55, said: 'It is good for us but all this has done is push the problem further out.

'I know residents on the next streets are very unhappy about it.'

Maureen Van Egdom, 80, said her son and daughter in law had the original idea to put in the wooden posts as they were fed up of cars parking on the verge outside their home.

Their approach was copied by other residents and there are now dozens of posts along a 200 yard stretch of verge near the school where there are often 'Mexican stand-offs' between cars.

However, one resident, who did not want to be named, said she thought her neighbours were over-reacting to the parking row.

She said: 'I've lived here for 30 years. So what it is busy for 30 minutes in the morning and afternoon. You live next to a school. What do you expect?'