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Camden Council crackdown on illegal Blue Badge holders
Camden Council was one of five London councils included in a nine-month crackdown on members of the public using fake or stolen disabled badges when parking.
The pilot scheme, which involved pooling information of about 12,000 reported lost or stolen Blue Badges into one single database for the selected councils, resulted in the seizure of over 90 disabled badges across the five councils.
London Councils, the organisation committed to fighting for more resources for London and getting the best possible deal for London’s 33 councils, is now expanding its Blue Badge database to cover the whole of the capital.
Previously, each local authority kept its own records but was unable to check details on Blue Badges displayed by offenders, which had been issued in other boroughs.
However, when kept in one database, council parking attendants from the five participating boroughs, their colleagues at Transport for London and the police could easily check whether Blue Badges they saw displayed on vehicles had been stolen or were fakes.
Councillor Mike Fisher, chairman of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee, said: “We are clamping down on fraudsters who use stolen or fake blue badges at the expense of people who genuinely need them.
“Some of the most vulnerable members of society should be able to park close to their destination without worrying about their cars being broken into and their blue badges stolen,” the chairman added.
The monthly cost of running the database is £1,978. This will be divided between the boroughs, Transport for London and the police.
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