The way disabled parking badges are handed out is be tightened up in a bid to crack down on a black market on which they change hands for thousands of pounds.

Thieves break into disabled people's cars to steal the blue EU badges which they sell to drivers desperate for a space.

Valerie Richards, coordinator of the Brighton and Hove Federation for Disabled People, said some areas of the city, including the North Laine, had become no-go areas for disabled drivers.

She said: "There are so many break-ins people have stopped parking there.

"It doesn't do service to those people who desperately need the spaces because they are disabled."

Traffic wardens discovered badges reading the London Borough of Westminster were fake because there is no such place.

The correct name for the area is the City of Westminster.

The badges also had East Sussex serial numbers.

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said administration of the badge scheme would transfer from social services to the parking department.

She said: "At the moment it's done on an ad hoc basis and this will mean it is properly administered.

"It is easy to trick the system. By bringing it into the parking services there will be a proper control system and all the information can be put on computers.

"For example, we can send people reminders when their badge expires and we can keep tabs on used badges."

She said disabled groups wanted the laws on disabled parking to be tightened.

Proposed changes include positioning a photograph of the driver on the front of the badge instead of the back.

Traffic wardens could also be given powers to question a driver whom they believe may not be the designated badge holder.

The Argus reported last month how Teri Knight had to pull down her jeans to show a scar to prove she was the lawful owner of her disability badge.

Ms Knight, 48, has used the blue badge since having a hip replacement five years ago.

She pulled up on double-yellow lines outside her home in Montpelier Road, Brighton, to unload her shopping when she was was quizzed by a warden.

Wardens do not now have powers to question badge holders.

Ms Knight said she would support plans to give wardens powers to check.

She said: "I could prove I was disabled so I wouldn't mind the change at all.

"The problem I had was the way it was done."

There are 11,000 blue badge holders in Brighton.

The badge is issued by the Department for Transport and is recognised across Britain and Europe.

Able-bodied people using the badge risk a £1,000 fine.