Driver used dead dad’s blue badge

James Trevor Lister of Malwood Way, Maltby, was ordered to pay a total of £542 by magistrates after it was proved in his absence that he used the blue badge to park his car in Drummond Street in March.

Prosecutors for Rotherham Council told the court that, after he had been given a parking enforcement notice for using the blue badge, Lister confirmed that the badge holder was his father who had died in December 2011 and that the badge had been left stuck to his car since his death.

The 55-year-old failed to appear at the court hearing.

In his absence, he was fined £200 and was also ordered to pay costs of £309 and a victim surcharge of £15.

Martin Beard, Rotherham h Council’s parking services manager, said: “Cases such as this reveal how far some people will go to avoid paying parking charges.”