UNTIL last week I had not heard of ‘Clarkson parking’. But now I know that the term is humorously used to describe motorists - usually those with larger vehicles - who selfishly take up two bays on purpose, to protect their cars from possible damage.

The tag came about after former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson tweeted a photo of his car parked in this manner.

It reminded me of an incident a few years ago when, on a visit to a city centre restaurant for a friend’s birthday, I had to squeeze my car onto the end of a row of parking bays due to a Range Rover parked Clarkson-style over the bay next to it. I ended up with just three quarters of a bay but assumed that any parking warden would see that this was unavoidable and I would be okay.

I was wrong, and came back to find a parking ticket. Despite challenging it, and giving the other vehicle’s number, I ended up having to pay a fine for being slightly over the line. I was furious.

Parking in such a way is becoming increasingly common, with drivers claiming that bigger cars and smaller spaces leave them with no choice but to use two bays. I see it all the time, particularly at supermarkets - it is among the many selfish ways of behaving that we now see all the time.

Hot on the bumpers of selfish parking come selfish telephone conversations. I have lost count of the times I have seen shop staff struggling to serve someone who is giving them less than one per cent of their attention while chatting on the phone. Even people making seemingly complex bank transactions stand there babbling about what they are buying for tea or how their hernia is playing up, while the poor cashier tries to sort out their Isa from their fixed rate bonds from their easy access ISAs.

I remember the case of a supermarket checkout assistant who refused to serve a shopper who was talking on her mobile phone. Yet, unbelievably, Sainsbury’s was forced to apologise to the customer who complained over her treatment.

It seems to me that modern manners are mostly bad manners and we are moving further and further away from the age of civility.

I was in New Look the other day and watched a woman pick clothing from a rail and, after looking at it for a minute, drop it onto the floor and walk away. She could not be bothered to hang it back among the other tops. I mentioned it to the girl on the till, who said that it happens a lot and there is not much they can do about it.

No doubt anyone who does this in a shop will think nothing of dropping litter in the street.

Adrian Evans, the chief executive of last year’s Clean for the Queen campaign, then warned that littering has become so commonplace in the UK that some people think it is their ‘human right’ to do it.

Littering is getting worse. Fines for dropping litter are, we are told, set to double to £150 and members of the public are being urged to challenge people dropping rubbish in public places, as part of a planned Government crackdown.

But it is so difficult to police that litterers will carry on and challenging is not always easy or safe. The one time I did it, I got a volley of abuse in return.

Whether walking through doors being held open by others, or receiving presents, few people say ‘thank you’.

And - back to motoring - is there a new rule that says you don’t have to indicate to turn at junctions or roundabouts?

People simply don’t consider others. If manners really do, as they say, ‘maketh man’, then an increasing number of us have a long way to go.

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