A CAMPAIGN to boost awareness of responsible blue badge use has been suggested by councillors and disability advocates.

Members of Darlington Borough Council’s Place Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the misuse of the disabled parking permits today (Thursday, September 1).

Thousands of people across Darlington have blue badges, which entitle the holder to parking concessions.

A recent report found a minority of badge holders had misused the permits, with 57 blue badges being seized on suspicion of misuse in 2015.

The report said identifying misuse is “time-consuming and difficult”, with the most common form of abuse being the use of the badge by family or friends of the holder.

At today’s meeting, Gordon Pybus, chair of Darlington Association on Disability, said more should be done to crack down on misuse after the council dismissed the option of creating an undercover enforcement team on cost grounds.

Mr Pybus also said many people may not be fully aware of the rules and regulations surrounding use of the badges.

He suggested resurrecting an old police campaign in which leaflets outlining the rules were left on cars displaying blue badges.

Mr Pybus said: “This campaign clamped down on misuse and made people aware so that there were no excuses when they were prosecuted.

“Now, it seems as though if you want to abuse blue badges come to Darlington as nobody is going to prosecute you.”

Cllr Linda Hughes supported the idea but said: “We don’t want to look as though we’re discriminating against genuine users.

“It would have to be carefully worded as it could look as though we’re having a blitz on disabled people and that’s the last thing we want.”

Feedback from the meeting will now be presented to the relevant council departments before the matter is discussed again at a future Place Scrutiny Committee meeting.