Four people have been fined more than £1,500 for illegally using blue disabled parking badges.

They appeared at Brighton Magistrates Court after being caught in a crackdown on drivers who display blue badges they are not entitled to.

Hairdresser Sarah Murray, 36, was fined £382 for using her sick mother's blue badge in Portland Road, Hove, on February 24.

Police seized it after challenging Murray, of Gladys Avenue, Peacehaven, and being told it was issued to her mother.

She told officers: “I can't get a permit to park in the road.”

Murray told magistrates: “I am not a bad person, I have only used it once before. I am so embarrassed to be standing here.”

Julia Ayoub, 26, of Rowan Avenue, Hove, was also fined £382, for using a blue badge registered to her sick son.

She had stopped on yellow lines outside Boots the chemist in Boundary Road, Hove, on the same day.

She showed magistrates letters from Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, and her son's doctor detailing his medical condition.

Ayoub said she thought she was allowed to use the blue badge when picking up medical supplies for her son.

Kemble Van Nagan, 23, used his mother's blue badge to park on yellow lines in Western Road, Hove, on February 24.

He said: “My mother has terminal cancer and I came back from living in Spain to help her.

“I parked on double yellow lines but forgot that her badge was on display in the car. I thought I was risking an ordinary parking ticket.”

Tad Large, bench chairman, fined Van Nagan £382, saying: “I was a carer for many years for someone with a blue badge and understand what is involved.”

Dennis Burnett, of Wivelsfield Road, Saltdean, was caught using a blue badge in Boundary Road, Hove on the same day.

He told police that the person it belonged to was shopping in a nearby supermarket.

Burnett failed to turn up for the hearing at Brighton Magistrates Court yesterday and the case was heard in his absence.

He was ordered to pay £440 in fines and costs.

Brighton and Hove City Council issued more than 12,000 blue badges to disabled drivers in the city between 1995 and 2007.

Under new regulations being introduced by the Department for Transport applicants will have to undergo independent medical checks to confirm they have genuine mobility problems.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, city council cabinet member for the environment, said: “This sends out a clear message that we will not tolerate blue badge fraud.”