Users welcome checks

Disabled people have welcomed a review of who should be given special parking permits, saying those who abuse the system spoil the privilege for the genuinely needy.

Public consultation is being held to look at ways of making the blue badge scheme more secure, and to ensure it benefits those who need it.

The government will consult disabled groups on the proposals, which include giving parking attendants the power to confiscate badges that have been stolen, forged, or are being used fraudulently.

A London solicitor, Mohammed Lodhi, was given a three-month suspended gaol sentence, fined £1,000, told pay £1,989, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service, after he admitted seven offences relating to blue badge abuse.

Able-bodied Lodhi was caught on camera using his disabled wife’s badge to park free in parking bays while working at his firm’s offices.

In Newark motorists must display their badges on their dashboards to use disabled carparking bays, or to park in normally unauthorised areas, such as double yellow lines.

As well as the badge, a clock showing the time they arrived must also be displayed. Those who park for more than three hours can be ticketed by police.

The Disability Voice and Action Group was set up to speak out on issues such as disabled access and transport.

The vice-chairman, Mrs Mary Ablott (67) of Back Lane, Barnby-in-the-Willows, welcomed the consultation.

Mrs Ablott was paralysed after suffering a broken back in a horse-riding accident, and uses a wheelchair.

She said: “There are people who are genuinely disabled, and there are people who play at being disabled.

“I see some people with blue badges who have parked on the yellow lines, and they jump out of their cars.

“I say to them: ‘I wish I was as disabled as you.’”

Mrs Ablott said the allotted parking spaces in supermarkets were often used by able-bodied people.

This caused problems because wheelchair users needed the extra space provided to get in and out of their vehicles using the wheelchair.

She said: “Some people pretend to be ill, or pretend to be disabled when they are not as disabled as they think they are.

“Hopefully these measures will make life a little bit easier for the genuinely disabled.”

Mr Albert Paragreen (82) of Manor Close, Southwell, is a blue badge holder and needs it to park close to shops because he cannot walk far.

He said it was frustrating that many people covered up the clock timers.

If tickets were handed out to those who did not display badges correctly, it would put an end to it, he said.

Mr Paragreen said a user’s photograph should be displayed on the badge to stop people using them fraudulently.

He said: “People are cheating the system by giving them to relatives to use, or by using their relation’s badge.”

The owner of Porter’s Provisions of Bridge Street, Newark, Mr David Moore, said people often parked outside his shop before going to the market.

It annoyed him that many often appeared to be able-bodied.

He said: “Some park in the same spot, and basically use it as their own parking space.

“It is not necessary because there are plenty of disabled parking bays now.

“Many do not look like the badge holders and that is the shame because people who genuinely need them are then discriminated against.”

A county council spokesman said the new system would affect only those people who reapplied for badges.

She said everyone who applied would be assessed on an individual basis to see if they were eligible, but badges would be given only to those who had serious mobility problems.