Browse Sections

Interactive

Popular Sections

Competition

Win a Dell Netbook

WE have a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Netbook to give away to an MEN visitor, courtesy of Vodafone's LiveGuy - an interactive game of cat and mouse.

Click here for details

Weather

Partly cloudy

3 day forecast

News

Email Article

Submit Comments | View Comments(46)

CAUGHT: Cars are removed during the crackdown.

Clamp on 'disabled' badge cheats

Clarissa Satchell
19/10/2005

CARS have been towed away in a crackdown in Manchester on "despicable" cheats who use fake disabled parking badges.

The council, which launched the crackdown, believes about 170 people in the city centre use the badges which could have been forged and sold for about £40.

They enable the cheat to park for free - and often deprive a genuine disabled person with a real badge of a space.

Council parking officials slapped tickets on some office workers' cars parked in Byrom Street following weeks of surveillance involving people suspected of regularly using the fake badges to park there without charge.

The cars, which included an X-reg VW Polo and a Y-reg Vauxhall Corsa, were all later towed away and impounded by the council.

Office workers from nearby buildings watched as the wardens and council officers targeted the cars, which had been identified as part of an operation launched three months ago. The council can check a register to find out if a badge is real.

The operation was part of the council crackdown on disabled badge fraud. The council has employed a specialist traffic warden, Kevin Hamilton, to identify the fakers.

Andy Vaughan, head of parking at the council, said: "We always knew that it was a problem from reports we were getting from disabled people and the public, but the scale of this deceit surprised everyone.

Video

"This is about fraudulent badges which have been maybe knocked out in the back of pubs and sold on for £40. We have about 170 people who we believe are using these badges in the city centre.

"We have been compiling video footage of those responsible and the next step for them and anyone found using a false badge is to tow the car away, interview and prosecute them for fraud.

"The decision to use one of these badges will prove very expensive. They have to pay a £100 removal fee for the car and £30 for the parking ticket as well as any court fine. On top of that on conviction they will have a criminal record.

"My advice to anyone still using one of these fake badges is to stop immediately before we catch up with you."

Coun Neil Swanwick branded anyone who displayed a fake disabled parking badge as "despicable".

He said: "We already have 10 cases going to prosecution. I think such people are despicable because they are abusing a system which exists to enable disabled people to move around the city freely. It is selfish in the extreme."

What do you think of the disabled badge cheats? Have your say.