Barking stepping up on blue badge fraud

Barking is continuing to publicise its tougher policy on disabled blue badge fraud. They repeat that a recent check in Barking Town Centre revealed that 20% of the permits had been illegally copied.

The scam, costing more than £50million a year in revenue lost through stolen badges alone, is rife in Manchester and Liverpool, where it has been linked to organised crime, including stolen, untaxed and uninsured cars.

The department for Transport says forged badges can sell for up to £1,500, but in the pubs of Barking and Dagenham they can evidently change hands for £20-£30.

The Government is spending £10m on setting up a database of the blue badges but it is not expected to be operational before 2015. Over five years to set up a simple database?

Meanwhile, Barking hopes to set up a team of covert investigators to follow and record rogue motorists home to identify illegal parking patterns, but even that could take at least six months to launch.