Hartlepool Council blue badge parking charge error reversed

On-street charges were introduced at the same time as permitted car park charges

A council has apologised and stopped charging disabled drivers for parking on streets after discovering it was against the law.

Hartlepool Borough Council said on-street parking was included in error when permitted charges were introduced in council-owned car parks in April.

No badge holders had been issued with a parking ticket as a result, it said.

The council said it was "taking immediate action" to change on-street parking signage.

Blue badges allow people with disabilities to park closer to their destination, as a driver or passenger.

Specific legislation exempts holders from paying to park in on-street bays but they can be charged in off-street car parks.

The authority was alerted to the error by Labour councillor Ben Clayton at its last full meeting, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A council spokesperson said: "It appears that when the decision to charge blue badge holders in council-owned off-street car parks was made last year, officers were under the impression that the decision to charge applied to all blue badge parking.

"This resulted in the parking meter signage being changed on all meters rather than just the off-street parking meters."

A council report from December said there were about 6,000 blue badge holders in Hartlepool.

Councillors have previously been told other local authorities had introduced blue badge parking charges in their car parks and that more were considering it.