A Bath business woman has been plagued with abusive phone calls and emails after a video of her, verbally abusing a man who filmed her parking illegally, went viral.

Sarah Duncan was named as the foul mouthed knitwear shop owner after the video, named Road Rage in Bath, made it to YouTube on Sunday night.

She says: "Give me that phone. It's illegal, give me that phone," as she tries to snatch the mobile device being used to film her.

The camera man refused and is then asked why she is being filmed, he replied: "I just think it's an interesting example of where the traffic closures in Bath are causing problems."

He later adds: "This will be great on YouTube. I just think it will be awesome."

Road Rage in Bath had over 36,000 hits on the site, but was later taken down due to its sale to certain news outlets.

It is now readily available on YouTube.

Police are now investigating a series of abusive phone calls to Sarah Duncan's shop.

Inspector Steve Mildren from Bath police said: "Police are investigating a series of abusive telephone calls to a member of the Bath business community. There are a number of lines of inquiry we are following up and we hope to trace the person who sent them."

Road Rage In Bath: Sarah Duncan and the Rise of the Middle Class Yobbo

Comments on YouTube were variably offensive, some asked other watchers to boycott the woman and her business after handing out her name, address and telephone number.

One of the top comments on the video right now reads: "What a horrible woman, 'Give me your phone' sounds like she was trying to rob the poor guy and 'I'll say you assaulted me' she would even lie to the police."

The user who uploaded the video, "DJWilburC" is allegedly a Bath University student who studies music technology but wishes to remain anonymous. He wrote on Facebook this week: "In my opinion, some of the comments on YouTube were inappropriate and offensive. My intention was to highlight traffic problems and how people deal with them. Businesses in Bath are having a hard time anyway and this doesn't help the reputation of our lovely city."

Some of the people who watched the video feel so strongly about the way Sarah Duncan reacted, they've taken to business review websites to complain about her.

TouchBath.com members have labelled her business amongst the worst in the city with nearly a dozen people rating her knitwear shop as just one star out of 5.

One the comment alongside one of the reviews tells people thinking of visiting her shop that the owner is simply abusive.

"I wouldn't support a shop with such an abusive owner, who threatens to accuse people of crimes that haven't occurred, assaults innocent bystanders, causes a traffic violation and then sells such appalling knitwear," it said.