Bid to protect disabled motorists

A Shropshire MP campaigning to make sure disabled parking bays are not misused is calling for private wheel-clampers to be better regulated. Telford MP David Wright is highlighting the issue in the House of Commons.

He claims bays on private land, such as on supermarket car parks, are too open to misuse. The release fee must, according to current legislation, be "reasonable" which he believes is "clearly open to abuse" by clampers.

The MP said that the biggest problem is that the type of signage required on car parks does not seem to be standardised. Mr Wright said: "My bill proposes that clamping companies must reach agreement with the local authority about signage and gives local councils the power to set penalty fee rates."

A survey in 2005 found more than 20% of parking bays, like those for disabled drivers, were being misused on supermarket sites. The MP said: "Car parks and parking bays like these are likely to be privately owned and managed by the individual business. If you are a disabled motorist or passenger, and you complain to, for example, a supermarket that a non-disabled motorist has parked in a disabled bay, an employee of the store could ask the driver to move their car from the disabled bay. But they will not be in a position to legally insist on it."

Mr Wright claimed that in some cases the owners of the private car parks are reluctant to take action against people abusing the bays because they see it as being bad for business. He said: "In my view not enforcing the provision of bays is bad for business."