Woman who used her mum's disabled blue badge in Bishop's Stortford must pay £806

A woman from London has been ordered to pay more than £800 after pleading guilty to misusing her mother's parking blue badge in Bishop's Stortford.

Lucy Dolby, from Haringey, pleaded guilty at Stevenage Magistrates' Court to a charge under section 117 of the Road Traffic Regulation 1984 for falsely displaying a disabled person's permit.

The court heard on Friday (August 16) that she parked her car in a disabled bay at the Apton Road car park and displayed a blue badge belonging to her disabled mother when her mother was not with her.

She was approached at the scene by officers from the Hertfordshire Shared Anti-Fraud Service (SAFS) and later formally interviewed, at which point she admitted using her mother's badge.

Ms Dolby pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, for which she received credit from the bench. She was ordered to pay a fine of £126, investigation and prosecution costs of £650 and a victim surcharge of £30. The fee for parking all day at Apton Road is £4.40.

Cllr Graham McAndrew, executive member for parking at East Herts Council, said: "We take the misuse of blue badges very seriously at East Herts, so we are delighted to have worked with Herts County Council's shared anti-fraud service to get this conviction.

"Blue badges are given to those most in need, so to take up a disabled space when you don't need one makes the lives of those who do so much harder, and we will not tolerate it in our district.

"Our officers have a great relationship with the team at SAFS and work closely with them to report and investigate suspected blue badge misuse. We hope this conviction deters others from falsely displaying blue badges."