Man fined over disabled badge copy

12/12/11

By Adam Blaxhall

An Enfield man has been made to pay out over £800 after being caught using a photocopied version of a disabled parking badge belonging to Heather Mills.

Traffic wardens spotted pensioner Stewart Simonson's smart car parked on a yellow line, but upon closer inspection noticed that his permit picture was of someone they recognised from the television.

The 65-year-old claimed he had been Ms Mill's chauffeur and that she had given full consent for the blue badge to be photocopied, as she was known to forget hers when travelling to London.

Simonson, from John Gooch Drive, Enfield, said the decision to use the badge copy while picking up pain killers and a battery was "on a spur of the moment".

He was fined £660 and ordered to pay £175 by Enfield magistrates after pleading guilty to an offence under the road traffic act. He admitted that he had used the badge despite having not worked for Miss Mills for six months.