A pensioner who was ticketed for using a disabled parking bay with his blind, amputee brother has called for a change in regulations.
Bill Cuthbert was stunned to receive a penalty notice after parking outside Perth’s Asda superstore.
The site’s operator, Smart Parking, said that because he had not displayed a Blue Badge, he was not entitled to park in the shop’s disability zone.
Mr Cuthbert, from Cupar, accepted that he did not have a Blue Badge but said he needed space for his brother James’ wheelchair.
The 70-year-old has now launched an online petition, calling on Asda bosses to review their “discriminatory” parking arrangements.
In his message to the store’s chief executive, he said: “I immediately contested this fine with the store management and was shocked to discover that Asda have no power to waive these fines under any circumstances.
“This is because Asda allow a private company to run many of their car parks across the country.”
He said that Asda suggested using the drop-off zone at the front of the store.
“This shows an incredible lack of understanding as they expect me to leave my blind, wheelchair-bound brother unattended while I find a regular space.”
Mr Cuthbert, who said that other chains including Tesco did not so strictly enforce the Blue Badge rule, told The Courier: “This is a form of discrimination. My brother likes shopping in Asda, but he is now being forced to go elsewhere.”
He said he makes regular weekend trips to the supermarket with his 64-year-old brother, who stays at a care home in Coupar Angus.
Asda has declined to comment on the situation. All queries from The Courier were passed to Smart Parking.
A spokesman confirmed that Mr Cuthbert can tear up his ticket.
He said: “It’s important that disabled people can park near the front of the store to make their shopping experience as comfortable as possible.
“Obviously we need to be able to identify who is genuinely disabled, this is why we ask people to display their blue badges so we can stop people who are not disabled using these bays.
“In the case of Mr Cuthbert he didn’t have or display a blue badge, so he was correctly charged. Mr Cuthbert then followed our appeals process, and after an investigation we decided to cancel his charge based on the genuine mitigating evidence that was supplied.
“We would remind people that blue badges are free of charge, and that they are the only way we can guarantee that disabled parking bays are available to be used by those people who need them the most.”