A string of motorists caught fraudulently using disabled badges to park in Croydon were hit with thousands of pounds in fines on June 29.

Seven people were caught using ‘blue badge’ parking permits without the named badge holders being present during a two-day operation in central Croydon last December.

The scheme enables badge holders to park on double yellow lines and for free in on-street car parks to get closer to shops, friends’ homes and leisure facilities.

Councillor Phil Thomas, cabinet member for environment and highways, said: “We’ve spoken to many motorists, blue-badge holders and others, who have said how glad they are that we’re cracking down on the high levels of misuse and bringing offenders to book.

“The most important element of this offence is the fact that, by abusing the system, they’re probably putting somebody who is disabled to a degree of difficulty and inconvenience they shouldn’t have to face.

“A less import side effect is the loss of parking revenue to the council. These people are using the blue badge to park free of charge, sometimes for hours at a time, and if they’re in a bay, they’re preventing other motorists legitimately parking in that space.

“This is an antisocial offence that we’re determined to act against, and these prosecutions are not the end of the matter.

“They’re part of an ongoing operation to stamp out blue badge misuse in our borough, and they send out the message that if somebody’s thinking about fraudulently misusing a blue badge, they’d better think twice about doing so in Croydon.”

The sentences: Yang Zhan, Peckham - Found guilty in his absence - Charged £1,490.

Yuefei Huang, Exeter - Found guilty in his absence - Charges £1,490.

Samuel Chukwu Nwenwu, West Norwood - Non-appearance; pleaded guilty by post - Charged £615.

Jennifer Roberts, Wandsworth - Non-appearance; pleaded guilty by post - Charges £515.

Akshav Patel, Romford - Non-appearance; pleaded guilty by post - Charged £315.

Mamduh Muridi Addeh, Clapham - Pleaded guilty - Charged £315.

Michael Best, Croydon - Pleaded guilty - Charged £515.