originally publish by Dan Grimmer
A crackdown on abuse of blue badges for disabled people has seen 10 people hauled before the courts and dozens of warnings issued for misuse of the permits.
Norfolk County Council’s determination to stamp out the abuse bucked the national trend, where more than 100 councils failed to take any legal action.
County Hall employs an enforcement officer who goes undercover on patrols, which helped lead to 10 people being taken to court for misuse of the badges.
In addition, 24 verbal or written warnings issued and 28 badges were seized, with 19 of them subsequently destroyed.
The most recent court case, earlier this month, involved a woman who used a blue badge, which had been issued to her husband, to park on double yellow lines in Great Yarmouth’s Howard Street South.
Norfolk County Council has prosecuted 10 people over blue badge abuse
Norwich Magistrates Court heard she was not entitled to use that badge for her own benefit and she was ordered to pay £370.
Across Norfolk, 35,000 valid badges are held, entitling the holder park on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours in vehicles they drive or travel in.
Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport. Pic: Jamie Honeywood (Image: Jamie Honeywood Archant Norwich Norfolk)
Graham Plant, the Conservative-controlled council’s cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: “The misuse of blue badges is not a victimless crime and we will pursue offenders through the courts as necessary.”
Mr Plant, who also chairs the Norfolk Parking Partnership, said: “Prosecutions send out a clear message that abuse of blue badges will not be tolerated as it takes away a lifeline for those who genuinely need them.”
There were 86 reports of blue badge abuse made to the council in 2022, with the authority’s blue badge investigations officer acting on those to identify misuse.
That officer also carries out undercover, plain clothes patrols to spot illegal use of the badges.
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