Man attacked over Blue Badge row 

A pensioner has appeared in court after attacking a man with a pickaxe handle who told him he shouldn't park on double yellow lines with his Blue Badge.

The incident happened after David Iredale, 65, parked his Mazda outside the Whitegate Drive branch of Lloyds Bank in Blackpool. Iredale thought he could park his Mazda outside the bank because he held a Blue Badge but he had also blocked in Mr Partington. When Parington asked him to move his car Iredale replied that he would be out in a minute and then shouted “I can park where I want, I’ve got a blue badge”. When Mr Partington informed him this was not the case, Iredale returned to his vehicle and retrieved the pickaxe from the boot. He then attacked Mr Partington leaving him with a gash to the side of his head.

Iredale admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and was handed a four-month jail term, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £1,010 in costs, which includes £500 compensation to be paid to Mr Partington.

Helen Dolphin MBE who runs the Disabled Parking Award (DPA) said: “ We are hearing more cases of people being assaulted both verbally and physically over arguments regarding Blue Badge parking. We always tell people not to police the bays themselves to avoid incidents such as these. We also promote enforcement of the scheme by local authorities and private operators as when disabled people see proper enforcement being carried out then they are less likely to attempt to do it themselves.”