'Blue badge delay will take my independence away'

Wayne Sharp says he needs his disabled blue badge so he can park close to places he needs to visit

An army veteran who suffers from several neurological and mobility issues said a delay in his disabled blue badge being renewed would take his "independence away".

Wayne Sharp, 61, from Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft, Suffolk, told the BBC that he submitted his renewal to Suffolk County Council as soon as he could on 17 June, as it will run out on 8 September.

When it did not arrive as expected, he was told by the authority there was currently "a 13-week plus waiting time for badges to be processed".

A spokesperson for the council said it was fixing the backlog "by giving residents extra time to apply".

Mr Sharp who "gets exhausted very easily" is being treated for esophagus cancer, but also has dystonia and Tourette's, which causes severe involuntary movement disorder.

He needs the badge to be able to park close to places he needs to go to, he said.

"Having a blue badge makes my life so much easier.

"Without it it's going to take my independence away," he added.

As soon as he was told to make his renewal, he said he "acted upon it immediately".

"I did everything by the book and sat back and left it in [the council's] hands."

When he contacted the authority to check the application he was told the council was only processing forms submitted towards the end of May and there was a 13-week plus waiting list.

He said that when he asked the council what he should do if there was a delay, the authority told him to "use normal parking spaces, or if I can find a friend who can drive me and drop me off".

He was also told that if he parked in a disabled space with an out-of-date badge he would be "breaking the law and subjected to a fine".

"I am very annoyed as this may make my day-to-day life difficult, through no fault of my own," he added.

'Significant backlog'

A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said authorities had 12 weeks to process blue badge requests, but it generally did it quicker than this.

"We are currently seeing a significant increase in the number of applications, which means it’s taking us around 13 weeks," they explained.

"We’re fixing the backlog by giving residents extra time to apply and putting extra staffing resources in place.

"We encourage anyone who has concerns to contact us for advice and to discuss alternative short-term arrangements."