Dundee City Council has been accused of “bureaucracy gone mad” after bosses told a blind and disabled pensioner her Blue Badge parking permit would have to be collected in person.
Despite neighbouring Perth, Angus and Fife sending the lifeline passes in the post, Margaret Grant, 81, was told the rules had changed in Dundee.
Margaret, who founded the Brittle Bone Society and was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 1989, lives in the Hilltown and is confined to a wheelchair. She is also blind and partially deaf.
She said: “I have been eligible for a parking badge since 1967, but the council have people begging for their rights.
“I told them I couldn’t come and collect it, but they told me either myself or someone with power of attorney has to get it.”
The Blue Badge scheme allows disabled people to park closer to their destination and applies nationally.
However, the badges are issued by local authorities which can charge up to £20 for the service.
Margaret’s daughter Yvonne Grant, 53, who also has brittle bone disease and uses a wheelchair, eventually collected the badge in person from Dundee House but she criticised the rule change.
She said: “What if people don’t have anyone to help them? The problem is with the people who issue these. It’s bureaucracy gone mad.”
A Dundee City Council spokeswoman confirmed it did not offer to post badges.
She said: “The procedure for applying for a Blue Badge was tightened up nationally in 2012 to tackle misuse of badges.
“Since then, applicants are told that the process will take six to eight weeks to complete and that the badge will have to be collected in person.”