Motorists who used fake or borrowed disabled parking badges to bag a better space are being dragged through the courts
Birmingham prosecutes more drivers for blue badge misuse than anywhere outside London, it has emerged. Nearly one-in-seven motorists taken to court for the offence were from the city in the year to March 2021.
The city council was among four authorities which made up more than half of the total prosecutions in England over the same period. It dragged 93 drivers through the courts for using a badge to wrongly bag a better parking space.
The others at the top of the list were all in London – Lambeth (119), Hammersmith and Fulham (92), and Bromley (70). The Department for Transport data was crunched by the PA news agency.
Tom Marsland, policy manager at disability equality charity Scope, said: “It’s appalling that, year-after-year, blue badge crime seems to be flying under the radar. This has been going on for too long.
“Misusing a blue badge could mean you’re taking the parking space of a disabled person who truly needs it. Laws around blue badge misuse are pointless if they aren’t enforced.”
Drivers found guilty of misusing blue badges can be fined up to £1,000. But 100 of the 140 councils which provided data to the DfT for the 12-month period did not prosecute anyone for blue badge misuse.
AA president Edmund King said: “It’s shocking that more than half of blue badge prosecutions come from less than a handful of local authorities, as this indicates the majority of local authorities are not taking enforcement seriously. Ultimately the blame lies with the fraudulent drivers who are abusing the system.”
Around 2.4 million valid blue badges are held in England. They help people with disabilities or health conditions access shops and services by enabling them to park closer to their destination.
The eligibility criteria was extended in 2019 to include people with non-visible disabilities such as Parkinson’s, dementia and epilepsy. Depending on the location, blue badges often enable holders to park free of charge in pay-and-display bays and for up to three hours on single and double yellow lines.
Last June, a driver who fraudulently used a photocopied disabled badge in a bid to avoid ‘extortionate’ parking fees in Birmingham city centre ended up with a £1,800 court bill after he was caught leaving his Mercedes in
Self-employed interpreter Arash Masoudpour, 41, handed over a laminated photocopy of his father-in-law’s badge when he was approached by a Birmingham City Council enforcement officer.
Masoudpour, of Lincoln Road, Smethwick, claimed his business had been struggling throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and confessed it was not the first time he had done it.
He admitted a single charge of fraud by false representation at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court and was fined £1,000 as well as ordered to pay costs of £700 and a victim surcharge of £100. District Judge Jonathan Straw said: “It has turned out to be a very expensive way of avoiding a parking charge.”