WREXHAM Council is clamping down on people who misuse blue badges with on-the-spot checks starting in May.

The Blue Badge Scheme provides concessions for people with disabilities in a bid to make accessibility and parking easier for them.

However there have been cases of people misusing the blue badges.

The Department for Transport said such cases included drivers illegally using a badge owned by a relative, drivers using computer-scanned copies of genuine badges and others who had altered the expiry date.

According to the British Parking Association, 700,000 motorists are currently abusing the scheme across the UK.

People who are caught using the blue badges fraudulently can have the badges taken away or receive a maximum fine of £1,000.

David Bithell, lead member for environment and transport said: “Misuse of the blue badge scheme deprives genuine disabled people from parking spaces.”