COUNCIL bosses in County Durham are cracking down on drivers abusing disabled parking spaces – with motorists fined more than 7,000 times in the past three years.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) Request submitted to Durham County Council revealed 7,359 penalty charge notices were issued between 2015/16 and 2017/18.

While the council has raked in £176,022 in payments for motorists parking in spaces reserved for the disabled, the number of fines have dropped by by 18 per cent or 475 since 2015/16.

The figures have been welcomed by council bosses, who aim to send out a “clear message” to those flaunting parking rules and regulations in the county.

Strategic traffic manager for Durham County Council, Dave Wafer said: “We provide disabled parking bays near local amenities to allow people with limited mobility to access the same facilities as everyone else.

“People using such bays do so out of necessity and although the vast majority of motorists respect this, some choose to ignore the signs and road markings.

“We can confirm that whilst our overall level of enforcement has remained constant over the past three years, the number or people parking in disabled bays without a valid blue badge does appear to be reducing.

“This is good news for those who depend on disabled bays, and by continuing to enforce against those who misuse them, we are sending out a clear message that it will not be tolerated.”

The standard charge in Durham for parking in a disabled parking space without displaying a blue badge, or displaying an invalid blue badge, is £70.

This can be reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days from the first issue of the penalty charge notice or challenged in an appeal process.

The FOI request showed that in 2015/16 there were 2,643 penalty charge notices issued resulting in payments totalling £61,339.

In 2016/17, 2,548 notices were issued which brought in £63,671.

In 2017/18, 2,168 penalties were handed out with the council making £51,012 in fines and last year, 2,168 fines were issued resulting in £51,012 being paid.

Head of communications at the disability charity Scope, Phil Talbot, also welcomed the move by the council.

“It’s unacceptable for non-disabled drivers to abuse accessible parking bays, so we support Durham County Council in penalising such behaviour,” he said. “Illegal use of these bays can make life incredibly tough for disabled people, who rely on these spaces to use local businesses and take part in community activities, thus contributing to their local economy and community. Local residents should be pleased to know the council is serving their disabled residents by cracking down on this activity.”