Disabled woman’s anger after thieves broke into her car and stole her blue badge
Pensioner Margaret Cummings, 78, was issued with a parking fine when she went to the police station to report the crime
An elderly disabled woman was slapped with a parking fine after thugs smashed the window of her car and stole her disability badge.
Margaret Cummings, 78, discovered her vehicle had been broken into at 7am this morning in Croydon, South London.
But when she went to the police station to report the crime, traffic wardens issued her with a parking ticket which was later scrapped.
Margaret, who walks with a cane, said the thieves were only interested in her blue badge and didn’t touch £40 cash which was also in the car.
She said: "I felt sick as a parrot when I realised it had been taken.
"I had £40 in coins in the glove compartment but they never took anything, all they took was the badge."
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The pensioner, from Croydon, has heart trouble and suffers from poor mobility thanks to bad knees, sore feet and a slipped disc.
The retired cleaner has been unable to secure a temporary badge, while she waits for her new one to arrive, and has had to park two streets away from her home.
Poor Margaret now has to walk five minutes to the car every four hours to top up the parking meter.
She said: "I find walking very hard, since I turned 70 all my parts are falling off.
"The traffic has to stop to let me cross the road because I can't rush and I have to stop three or four times and hold on to walls as I walk."
Margaret asked Croydon Council for an emergency disabled permit but was told that was not possible.
A council spokesman said a replacement disabled parking permit has been ordered and should be delivered to her by fast-track recorded delivery service before the end of the week.
He said: "While other local authorities charge an administration fee for the replacement of stolen blue badges, Croydon does not if, as in this case, the application has a crime reference number."
The spokesman added that the council offers a companion badge scheme to combat the theft of blue badges.
He said: "The companion badge is left in the permit-holder's car instead of the blue badge, greatly reducing the risk of theft as it is valid only for the vehicle to which it is registered, so has no intrinsic value for thieves."
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