A CRACKDOWN on the misuse of parking badges meant for disabled drivers has been hailed a major success by council officials.
The joint venture - launched by police, the borough council and Darlington Association on Disability - aimed to address concerns that non-disabled drivers were using badges to gain access to reserved parking spaces in the town centre.
The campaign, run during November and December, saw 370 badges checked. Thirty-two users were issued with non-endorsable fixed penalty notices for parking offences due to incorrect use of the badge. Car park attendants also found a further 12 unreadable badges and five which were out-of-date.
An education period helped launch the initiative, with persistent offenders warned that they would have their badge withdrawn or receive a fine of £1,000.
Gordon Pybus, of Darlington Association on Disability, said: "The campaign has been successful in educating badge users and their passengers on the correct use of the badge and I am very pleased with the outcome".
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article