A CAMPAIGN to stop the misuse of parking permit badges meant for disabled drivers in Darlington has been hailed a success.

The badges, which used to be orange, but are now blue to conform with European legislation, allow disabled drivers access to reserved parking places in the town.

But Darlington Borough Council decided to act after the Darlington Association on Disability voiced concern that the badges were being misused by people who were not disabled.

Between November 25 and December 23 last year, the Darlington Association on Disability, the council and traffic wardens from Durham police ran a joint campaign to discourage people from abusing the privilege.

The council says the campaign was successful at conveying the message that inappropriate use of the badge was unacceptable.

The first two weeks of the campaign were used as an education and warning period, with parking attendants and traffic wardens giving out more than 2,000 leaflets and talking to badge holders to raise awareness of their correct use.

The second two weeks of the campaign continued the education drive, but also saw action taken against people misusing the parking badge.

A total of 115 fixed penalty notices of £30 were issued to motorists for offences relating to misuse of the badges.

Of those, 68 were issued by car park attendants and 47 by traffic wardens. Eight badges were found to be out of date.

Gordon Pybus, chairman of Darlington Association on Disability, said: "I would like to thank the disabled people for highlighting the problem and for their co-operation throughout the campaign. My thanks also go to the council and the police. The campaign was very successful, but we need the continued support of all parties to keep up this level of success."

Traffic wardens and parking attendants will continue to raise awareness of the correct use of the badges, and it is hoped that the campaign will be repeated later in the year