Islington Council is taking the fight to tackle parking fraud on to the streets of the borough in an effort to reduce the numbers of fake parking permits now in circulation.<br><br>“Whether these individuals are parking in spaces set aside for residents or depriving disabled people of parking spaces specifically allotted to them, we aim to catch them out”, said Councillor George Allan, executive member for customer focus.<br><br>“And when we do, we will take whatever action necessary to hit them where it really hurts - in their pockets”, he added.<br><br>Since February 2004, over 600 fraudulent, stolen or misused Blue Badges have been confiscated from vehicles in the borough. Seven people have been taken to court by the fraud team and all successfully prosecuted, receiving fines ranging from £300 to £2,540. Five other cases are currently awaiting a court hearing and new cases are being investigated every day.<br><br>To combat the problem the parking service has recently established a team to investigate reports of fraudulent use and to look out for fake permits and badges on the street. The team works closely with other local authorities, sharing information and targeting offenders.<br> <br>In partnership with NCP, the council has also trained its parking attendants to spot fake permits and disabled badges. It is working closely with the Metropolitan Police on joint exercises, in specific locations, targeting vehicles displaying fraudulent disabled badges. <br><br>Additionally, Islington Council has introduced a 'substitute' badge in the form of a residents’ parking permit to further reduce incidents of theft. This allows the user to park their car in a residents’ bay in the zone in which they live. It shows their vehicle registration number making it unattractive to thieves in the same way as a blue badge which bears no registration number and can be used in any vehicle. So far the council has issued 846 of these badges.<br><br>“A key element of parking control is ensuring residents, particularly the disabled, get priority over other motorists when it comes to parking their car in Islington”, said Cllr Allan.<br><br>“There will always be a few that try and cheat the system, but we have a clear message to them: we are on your case!”, he added.<br><br>There are two main ways of committing parking fraud. The first involves using a counterfeit permit allowing a motorist to park in a specific Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) free of charge. The second involves using a fraudulent or stolen Blue Badge – used to identify disabled drivers – which means the offender is able to park in a range of locations, including on some yellow lines, across the borough. <br><br>Ends
Page Last Updated: 17 December 2009