Spike in disabled parking offences

The number of successful prosecutions for misuse of disabled “blue badges” in Herefordshire has spiked over the last year.

New figures from Herefordshire Council show there were 13 successful prosecutions in the last financial year of drivers not registered as disabled using the badges to gain preferential parking.

This compares to an average for the previous four years of fewer than six prosecutions a year.

However the figures, released under a freedom of information request, show other crimes for which the council brought prosecutions were only around half the number in previous years.

It bought 24 successful prosecutions over trading standards, of which six related to sale of tobacco.

Over the previous four years, the average for tobacco-related prosecutions was 21.5 a year.

There were 15 prosecutions for environmental crimes, also down on recent years, of which seven were for fly-tipping or other waste disposal offences.

Seven families were prosecuted for allowing their children to not attend school, against a four-year average of nearly 40 a year.

The council also  brought four successful prosecutions relating to animals, of which two were concerned use of animal by-products.
In all it brought 66 successful prosecutions, compared with an average for the previous four years of 125 a year.

Class of offence
successful prosecutions by Herefordshire Council 2021-22
successful prosecutions, yearly average 2017-21

Anti-Social Behaviour
1
2.0

Trading Standards – tobacco
6
21.5

Trading Standards – business protection
1
0

Trading Standards – rogue traders
17
22.0

School Absence
7
39.3

Animal welfare and by-products
4
7.8

Environmental and waste crime
15
26

Planning
2
1.0

Parking (blue badge misuse)
13
5.8

Total
66
125.4