Free disabled parking could end in St Edmundsbury

Car parks including those in Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill will be affected

Disabled drivers could soon be charged for using car parks owned by St Edmundsbury Borough Council.

The council's overview and scrutiny committee is to review its current arrangement which allows blue badge holders to park for free.

A committee meeting heard the number of blue badge holders is rising and and the proximity of parking to services is more important to users than the cost.

The report is expected to go before the committee in October.

Councillor David Nettleton, chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee, said the review "will collect information to help clarify the principles of charging blue badge holders and will talk to those most closely concerned".

St Edmundsbury's announcement comes in the same week that councillors on Waveney District Council voted to introduce parking charges for blue badge holders.

Disabled Motoring UK said the charges would discriminate against people with disabilities because they often needed more time than able-bodied people.

Helen Dolphin, the director of policy and campaigns, said: "Why should they be paying more than someone who is not disabled?

"That's exactly what you are doing by charging people who take considerably longer to do the same amount."