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| NEWS | BY RICHARD OSLEY |
 Fraud officer Adrian Weatherill and a traffic warden hone in on a car with a suspect badge  A car is bound for the pound  Blue badges change hands for up to £1,500  Investigator Adrian Weatherill |
Lost or stolen blue badges, which are issued to disabled drivers, are being fraudulently obtained and used to flout parking rules. A New Journal investigation has revealed that drivers are using the badges to gain access to specially marked parking spaces, and to leave their cars for up to three hours on yellow lines. Two years ago, the New Journal teamed up with Camden Council to lead a successful crackdown on disabled badge cheats. Now the council has its own fraud-buster who walks the streets looking for cars trying to flout parking laws by using stolen disabled badges. The racket has mushroomed since the arrival of the congestion charging zone and the spread of controlled parking zones. It has seen hundreds of cars broken into as thieves target blue badges. Adrian Weatherill scours recognised blue badge fraud hotspots for the council. Several hundreds of cars have been towed away. But, with the swelling number of cases, the Town Hall wants more support from the government and other local authorities. Joining Adrian on his daily hunt illustrates how rife the problem has become. “People look into a car and see a stereo which they can steal and sell for £50,” says Adrian, a former benefits fraud investigator. “But a blue badge can sell for much more. The money that can be saved is enormous.” The patrol begins in Chalton Street, Somers Town, where cars are parked feet from the congestion zone. A busy row of shops serve offices and nearby council estates. This is a genuine hotspot – the road is full of parked cars, all of them have disabled badges. Adrian rings colleagues for a database check and his suspicions are justified. Ten minutes gone, three cars checked and two lost or stolen badges are being used fraudulently. Adrian rejects any suggestion that it is a fraud where no one suffers. “There are genuinely disabled people who can’t get to the spaces they need,” he says. “There are people who can’t go shopping because of this. People need to be aware of how this problem is growing.” A third car under suspicion in Chalton Street has an Enfield badge, which might not return a yes or no until 24 hours later. It is likely that, if the driver of this car is found to be a cheat, he will escape unpunished today. “We need a common, uniform badge and there should be a database,” adds Adrian, who spends most of his days alone in the pursuit of the fraudsters. “We also need all authorities to be able to check their database quickly. Only Tower Hamlets, Westminster and Camden have fraud officers on the streets.” But Adrian’s work is not in vain. One driver is in for the shock of his life after being rumbled in Chalton Street. A swish black Mercedes is parked outside an Italian restaurant and its blue badge – issued by Camden’s Parking Solutions team – has been reported lost or stolen. “The people doing this are all sorts,” says Adrian. “You’d be surprised. It can be businessmen.” The next step is to confiscate the car and take it to the Regis Road pound in Kentish Town. On this occasion, the tow truck arrives seconds too late. The driver has burst out of the pizzeria at the sight of traffic wardens. Adrian moves in but the driver will not answer his questions. After a short stand-off, he shows no remorse and heads off towards Euston Road. Adrian has to be satisfied with the confiscation of the blue badge. The driver has thick dark brown hair but when the badge is flipped the passport photograph shows a bespectacled, bald man. The rogue driver’s number plate has been noted and he will be pursued later. “It is frustrating,” says Adrian. “But we can still chase this one. We really need powers of detention to stop people getting away.” Frideswide Place, a short walk from Kentish Town Road’s shops, is another recognised hotspot and once again Adrian uncovers a cheat. This time there is no chance of escape and the car will be towed to Regis Road. The driver will have to pay costs and have lots more questions to answer when he contacts authorities over his missing car. And maybe he was not the only one. As soon as the tow truck and the extra parking attendants appear, the rest of the parked cars begin to filter away and the crowded road is suddenly empty. Adrian has noticed a marked increase in fraud since the congestion zone was introduced. He says: “In the first weeks of the zone the phone was never off the hook because of tip-offs. These badges have suddenly become very valuable.” They can be sold for up to £1,500. Money changes hands in shady deals in backstreet pubs and rogue garages. So lucrative is the swindle, some disabled drivers have now been selling their badges before reporting them lost. Adrian says: “It’s not the biggest trend but it has been known. They keep the lost one and sell the new one because that is worth more and nobody is going to prosecute a disabled driver.” But the cheats are not having it all their own way. Adrian has taken hundreds of cars off the streets, many others have been clamped and fined. Camden also hopes the prosecution of an estate agent caught in Camden Road, Camden Town, will be the first of many similar cases. Fahmy El-Gamal, 41, who lives in Highstone Mansions, Camden Road, was arrested in February after the blue badge on his car, which had been left in a parking meter zone, was found to have been reported lost or stolen. Last month he was fined £500 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court after admitting the misuse of a disabled badge. n If you know someone who is misusing a disabled parking badge phone the hotline on 020 7974 2411. |
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