TRAFFIC wardens are to gain special powers to challenge drivers using disabled parking badges after an investigation uncovered widespread misuse.

Drivers will be obliged to hand over badges for inspection and give an explanation if the disabled person is not present. Those who fail to do so will be fined up to £1,000.

Blue-badge fraud has multiplied as drivers attempt to dodge the growing number of parking restrictions and the rising cost of parking fees. Motorists paid more than £1 billion in parking fees and penalties last year.

There are more than 2.5 million blue badges in circulation. They can be used in any vehicle transporting or collecting the badge holder. An investigation by the London Borough of Wandsworth found that more than half of badges displayed near shops and stations were being misused.

Two thirds of the misuse was by friends or relatives of the badge holder. Many of the remaining incidents involved stolen badges, which sell on the black market for up to £500.

The investigation also uncovered a number of drivers using computer-scanned copies of genuine badges and others who had altered the expiry date or were using badges belonging to people who had died.

At present wardens have no way of checking whether the badge displayed in the vehicle belongs to the driver or a passenger. The front of the badge gives only the name of the issuing authority, the expiry date and a serial number.

As from this autumn, in a move initiated by the Government, wardens will be able to demand to inspect the rear of the badge, which contains the holder’s photograph. Local authorities will be recruiting hundreds of enforcement officers to gather evidence for prosecutions, including footage from closed-circuit television and hand-held cameras of able-bodied people illicitly using badges.

Nick Lester, director of transport at the Association of London Government, said: “The power to inspect the badge will be a major deterrent. We know that many people offer to run errands for badge holders and then just leave the badge in their car and use it to avoid paying for parking.”

FRAUD CASES

• Sabir Ali, 31, a parking warden in Edinburgh, was dismissed last September for using his mother’s blue badge. His defence was: “It happens all the time”
  
• A solicitor, a bank employee and a care home manager were prosecuted in Wandsworth for using blue badges after the holders had died
  
• Eight drivers, including two insurance sales staff, were prosecuted in Manchester in March

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