Ncp Services Assists Bury Police In Clampdown On Fake Blue Badges

Civil Enforcement Officers employed by NCP Services for Bury council joined local police in a clampdown on fraudulent use of blue badges last week.

Throughout the day, six badges were seized for misuse, eight penalty charge notices were issued and 11 stop and accounts were carried out.  In total, 25 people were stopped and advised during the operation.

Part of the CEOs training involves spotting whether Blue Badges are being properly used - and the clampdown meant the CEOs could use their expertise to help police spot the fakes.

Rick Jones, NCP Services contract manager in Bury explained: “Blue Badges are there to help motorists with disabilities use their cars.

“There is a problem all over the UK with able-bodied cheats who seek to abuse the system. Sometimes this abuse extends to people using stolen or fake Blue Badges; our CEOs are very experienced in spotting this kind of fraudulent use, so we are delighted to be able to help the police with this campaign.”

The maximum penalty for the misuse of a blue badge is a £1,000 fine and an appearance at court.  Abuse can extend from able-bodied drivers borrowing the Blue Badge of a disabled friend or relative - through to the use of stolen or faked Blue Badges.

Inspector David McElroy from Bury East Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “The issue of people fraudulently displaying blue badges to park in disabled spaces is a serious offence.  People that illegally use these badges cause great inconvenience to those who genuinely need to use the disabled bays.

“Six badges were seized and 14 people have been prosecuted from this day of action.  We will continue to target those who fraudulently display badges in their car window and hope that this operation will make people realise the consequences of doing this.”