the blue badge crooks

Number of motorists caught using 'fake' blue badges for parking soars

SOARING numbers of motorists have been caught fraudulently using blue badges for the disabled, council chiefs revealed yesterday.



















disabled parking badgeAn example disabled blue badge used for parking[AP]


Convictions for abuse of blue badges - which give the disabled free parking - have doubled in the past three years, said the Local Government Association.

Among those convicted are lawyers and estate agents while some offenders have been caught using the passes of dead relatives.

But the scale of the fraud - which carries a fine of up to £1,000 - is likely to be much higher.

The National Fraud Authority estimates that 20 per cent of the two million blue badges in circulation - or 400,000 - are abused at an annual cost of £46 million to councils.

And the disabled charity Scope said this fraud makes the lives of the genuinely disabled even more difficult by getting them a bad name.

It also said drivers misusing blue badges take up parking spaces reserved for those with mobility problems.

Blue Badges entitle the disabled to free parking in pay and display bays and let them park for up to three hours on yellow lines. In London, badge holders are exempt from the congestion charge.