BRIGHTON and Hove drivers ended up in court 42 times last year for allegedly abusing the Blue Badge parking scheme, figures reveal.

Department for Transport data shows there were 42 prosecutions for misuse of the Blue Badge scheme in the city in 2019-20 – six more than the previous year.

All of them targeted a non-badge holder.

Blue Badges are issued by councils to people with disabilities and allow them to park closer to their destination.

The scheme was recently extended to include those with learning disabilities, mental health conditions and other hidden impairments.

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Across England, drivers abusing the system were prosecuted 1,429 times in 2019-20, three fewer than the previous year.

In 98 per cent of cases, the prosecution was against non-badge holders.

Fazilet Hadi, head of policy at Disability Rights UK, said it was important that those who abuse the scheme are stopped.

She said: “The Blue Badge scheme is absolutely vital to enabling disabled people to get out and about. We would like to see all local authorities take active steps to protect blue badge parking spaces for disabled people, with zero tolerance for people who abuse the scheme or those who unlawfully park in blue badge spaces.”

David Renard, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, said councils are cracking down on the growing crime despite limited resources.

He said: “Many Blue Badge fraudsters are being brought to justice by councils who will come down hard on drivers illegally using them.”