As part of a determined crackdown by Ealing Council on the misuse of blue badges, council officers have been patrolling in the borough’s town centres catching drivers red-handed.
One of the recently seized badges was taken last August from a driver who was spotted by investigators displaying a blue badge when parked in Ealing Broadway. When the driver was challenged by undercover officers she claimed that the badge was her mother-in-law’s who she had dropped off at nearby shops, but when the officers called the driver’s mother-in-law on the telephone she confirmed that she was actually at home.
The driver was found guilty in Ealing Magistrate’s Court of misuse of the blue badge in January 2016 and was fined £950 plus costs, a total of £1,395 and now has a criminal record.
