Father ‘horrified’ by ‘inconsiderate’ driver

Graham Langley, 66, was pushing his wheelchair- bound son Stuart, 42, down Chapel Road, in Worthing, when he was forced into the middle of the road to continue his journey.

Mr Langley, of Southwold, in East Anglia, said: “It completely blocked the pavement and everyone was forced into the road to go around it. When I got up to the car I was horrified as it was the worst example of parking I had ever seen in my 40 years of driving. I was totally horrified to see it was a blue badge holder causing the obstruction.”

Graham regularly visits Worthing to see Stuart, who has been a resident of the Queen Alexandra Hospital Home, in Boundary Road, for three years. Stuart was left badly brain-damaged after he was knocked off of his bike by a car five years ago.

“I think it’s terrible that people have a blue badge and yet they have no consideration whatsoever, including for other people in wheelchairs,” said Graham.

The photograph Graham took of the offending car shows it clearly parked at a junction with its rear end jutting out into the road. The blue badge scheme guidelines say holders must not park within 15 metres of a junction and should not cause an obstruction or make it difficult for others to see clearly.

Graham said police advised him to speak to the council, who said only a traffic warden could take immediate action against the driver, but they could keep the number plate on record.

Councillor Norah Fisher, secretary of Worthing Access and Mobility Group, said she has had similar experiences.

She said: “The blue badge is issued for a purpose, but there are a lot of inconsiderate users and I hope this incident makes people think carefully in the future about where they park.”