A driver is refusing to pay a parking fine issued after a disabled badge was displayed the wrong side up.

Wayne Dexter said he was taking his 79-year-old mother-in-law on a trip in the summer and parked in a disabled bay in Marine Drive, Brighton, so she would not have to walk very far to the beach.

Joan Maggs, from Southend, is disabled and partially sighted so didn't realise she had put her disabled badge the wrong way up on the dashboard as they left.

When they returned a couple of hours later they found they had been given a £60 parking ticket for being illegally parked in a disabled space. Mr Dexter, of Downside Avenue, Worthing, said he showed a nearby warden Mrs Maggs' badge and was told he just needed to appeal against the ticket and show them the valid pass.

But earlier this month he was sent a letter to say his appeal had been refused and they had to pay the £60 fine.

The angry driver said it was an unreasonabledemand and he was refusing to pay the ticket on principle.

"They said they accepted it was a valid badge but we have to pay the fine anyway because it was the wrong way round.

"It still had writing on the back and I would imagine to people who deal with these things it was obvious what it was.

"It just seems so petty. I think it's outrageous.

"We are talking about a 79-year-old woman who can hardly move with arthritis and is not very clear-sighted.

"It is obvious from the fact she has a valid pass it was a mistake.

"I understand they cannot allow anyone to park in a disabled space but this just is not reasonable.

"I am going to make a stand and refuse to pay it on principle."

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council, which is in charge of parking in the city, said the attendant had no way of checking the expiry date on the badge which meant the parking ticket issued was considered to be valid.

She said it was policy that fines were issued to all cars which did not clearly display their disabled badge in the front windscreen.