Date published: 2024-07-10 | Category: Delivering for local residents, Parking and Travel
Bath & North East Somerset Council carried out 193 vehicle checks as part of a national Day of Action targeting Blue Badge misuse.
The co-ordinated campaign saw 142 councils take part across the UK on Friday 24th May. The campaign aimed to protect disabled motorists and remove as many misused Blue Badges as possible. More than 10,000 badges were inspected, with 182 seized.
B&NES Civil Enforcement Officers carried out 193 vehicle checks with additional support from its partner, OneWest, finding four instances of misuse and seizing two badges, meaning the vast majority of Blue Badges are being used correctly.
Examples of Blue Badge misuse include:
- using a badge when the badge holder is not in the vehicle
- using a badge that belongs to a deceased person
- using an out of date/expired badge
There are currently more than 8,700 registered Blue Badge holders in Bath & North East Somerset.
This is the third time the campaign has taken place, with 82 councils involved in last year’s Day of Action when 5,145 Blue Badges were inspected, and 39 stolen Blue Badges were seized across England and Wales.
Councillor Manda Rigby, Cabinet Member for Transport said: ‘This is the second year Bath & North East Somerset Council has supported this campaign as we continually tackle Blue Badge misuse. Access to disabled parking bays should always be proactively protected, although four instances of misuse were observed, we’re happy to see the vast majority of badges are being used correctly.
“Our civil enforcement officers will continue to monitor and challenge potential instances of misuse and fraud if identified.”
The council seized 46 badges in 2023 and 16 so far in 2024.
ENDS