Fines issued for the misuse of disabled parking spaces have almost doubled across Hampshire, as the county council took six figures in penalty payments in 2024.

Hampshire County Council made a staggering £170,184 in the calendar year of 2024 alone, where fines issued doubled from 2,317 in 2023 to 4,021 last year.

The data is revealed as the county's authority is set to change its concessionary bus pass scheme to remove free trial for a disabled person bus pass holder prior to 9.30am on weekdays.

A Freedom of Information request sent to HCC and Southampton City Council asked how many fines were issued for the misuse of disabled parking spaces, and the total amount collected from those penalty charges.

The data showed that drivers have paid SCC £162,510.50 since January 2023.

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Some 91 per cent of these penalty notices were dished out for drivers parking illegally in on-street disabled spaces - making up 7,110 of the 7,733 total fines.

Councillor Eamonn Keogh, cabinet member for environment and transport, said that parking enforcement teams "patrol all our off-street and on-street parking spaces" to find drivers misusing spots.

The ward member for Peartree said: "Drivers found misusing a Blue Badge are subject to further investigation by the council’s parking fraud team.

"Our parking enforcement teams patrol all our off-street and on-street parking spaces, including disabled spaces and issue penalty charge notices to drivers who are found to be misusing any spaces."

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The data is revealed as two electric vehicle charging bays are set to replace disabled spaces at the McDonalds restaurant in Totton.

While under New Forest District Council's jurisdiction, Cllr Keogh of Southampton City Council said that "government guidance" is that 6 per cent of off-street public car park bays should be disabled.

"This is not an absolute requirement because it is dependent on the space available at each location and the level of demand by Blue Badge holders for parking at that site," the cabinet member said.

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: “Last year we issued nearly double the number of fines compared to 2023 for misuse of disabled parking bays.

"The vast majority of these were in relation to misuse of on-street disabled bays rather than those in car parks.

"We do all we can to ensure that disabled bays are only used by those who are eligible for this reserved parking.

"Our Civil Enforcement Officers carry out enforcement seven days a week and any vehicle parked in a disabled bay without displaying a valid blue badge will receive a Penalty Charge Notice."