Disabled blue badge 'is lifeline'

The government has introduced new measures in England to help stop misuse of the disabled blue badge system, including a new database, barcodes on badges and a standardised assessment - but is it enough? Here, blue badge holders tell of their experiences and give their views.

ROSS McINNES, FROM HASTINGS, EAST SUSSEX

Ross McInnes has been a blue badge holder for five years. In that time, his badge has been stolen twice from his car.

Without it, he says, he's in trouble. Some days, osteo-arthritis affects him so badly, he can barely make it across a room.

"I have very little mobility without it," says Mr McInnes who uses two walking sticks, but he knows he is not as badly off as some.

"I'm not terribly elderly and I have support from my wife, but some are in a much worse state than me if they get their badge stolen," the 60 year old says.

But while the blue badge brings independence and convenience, it is also a beacon for thieves and reportedly can sell for up to £1,500 on the black market.

"If you put a wad of notes on your dashboard, that would get stolen as well," he says.

Able-bodied people can be fined up to £1,000 for misuse of the badges, but Mr McInnes would like to see that raised to a prohibitive figure.

"If people are saving £5,000 in parking fees, they are prepared to risk a £1,000 fine," he says.

He also believes offenders should get a criminal record and would like greater steps taken to stop able-bodied people parking in disabled bays.

ERIC MORRIS, FROM WHITFIELD, KENT

Eric Morris would like to see England follow America's lead and get tough on able-bodied people who pinch disabled parking bays.

His experience at his local supermarket in Whitfield, Kent, is of perfectly fit people parking as close to the store as possible - which means in the disabled bays.

"Over and over again you go to the supermarket and see a mother and her two children park in a disabled bay and do their shopping," he says.

"In America no one does that because there's a statutory fine and no excuses if you're caught in one."

There have been times when Mr Morris, 62, who uses a mobility scooter has given up on a shopping trip because he cannot park near enough to the shops.

HUSNARA BEGUM, FROM SEVENOAKS, KENT

Husnara Begum has held a blue badge since she was 10, but is increasingly finding the system being abused.

As a commuter with rheumatoid arthritis, she depends on getting a disabled parking bay at her local train station but often finds it's been pinched by an able-bodied driver.

"Some people are very polite if you ask them to move out of the way, but some people do not give a damn," she says.

The 34 year-old, who does not always use her wheelchair, knows what it is like to be challenged about her disability when she parks in disabled bays - but that doesn't stop her from challenging others.

"People have preconceived ideas of what disabled people look like and what cars they drive."

She thinks it's important that parking attendants have more power to question people and backs government plans to give local authorities greater powers to seize forged or misused badges as soon as they come across them.