John Beet, the newly appointed divisional traffic warden manager for East Division (Inverness), spoke to the Highland News about the growing problem of drivers without disability using the badges – and how Inverness was not immune to a situation being experienced throughout the UK.

He confirmed his team were actively looking out for motorists using the badges illegally in Inverness.

And the HN can reveal that a number of motorists have already been reported to the Highland Council this year in relation to the misuse of the badges.

The style of the blue badge design was created by the Scottish Government and is recognised throughout the European Union.

Local authorities, disabled groups and other organisations have worked together to reduce fraud by introducing holograms to the badge design.

People with a disability are issued with these badges by the council, enabling them to park in certain designated areas.

Mr Beet said: "We have had some experiences where suspected misuse has been reported to us.

"We had a spell where between four and six were reported to us.

"We resolved three or four of these and got to the bottom of it but there was a few we have had to report to the council as suspected misuse.

"There have been no criminal proceedings at this stage."

However, he added: "My personal feelings are that the old orange badge scheme was less likely to be abused because it used to stand up on the dashboard and you could see all the details, the serial number, expiry date, and actually the photograph of the person the badge was issued to.

"On the new blue European badges, even colleagues in other areas – including Aberdeen – agree that because it is two-sided you get the photograph on one side.

"Nine-times-out-of-10 the disabled person will only display the part which shows the serial number, date of issue and the expiry date.

John Beet, East Division (Inverness), claims the new disability badge design makes it harder to police its proper use. Bobby Nelson

"Technically, unless you see that person get out of the vehicle, you don't know who that badge belongs to."

A spokeswoman for the council said it is responsible for administering applications for the disabled blue badge scheme and traffic wardens are responsible for policing the scheme.

She added: "They have the powers to confiscate blue badges where the scheme has been abused.

"Once notified of a blue badge confiscation, the council can take steps to ensure no replacement badge is issued to the holder.

"We have not been notified of any blue badge confiscations in Inverness in the past year. We will continue to work with traffic wardens to minimise fraudulent use."

The council spokeswoman further added that it was notified by traffic wardens of three or four incidents abuse through the service point earlier this year, but there were no confiscations of the badges.

"It is not within the council's powers to confiscate blue badges," she said.

"Once notified of a confiscation we can ensure that no new badges are issued."

If the public have concerns about possible abuse of blue badge permits they should contact the traffic wardens on Inverness 01463 228420.

c.hay@highland-news.co.uk

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