A woman who used her mother’s blue badge to illegally park in a disabled bay has been slapped with a court bill of nearly £4,000.

Chloe Norris failed to appear at Telford Magistrates Court to face the charge on Monday (August 21) but the case went ahead in her absence.

Mike Davies, prosecuting for Shropshire Council, said a parking warden witnessed Norris park her Mini vehicle in a disabled parking space on Shoplatch in Shrewsbury town centre at around 11am on January 5 this year.

The 29-year-old was seen exiting the vehicle with a young child and walking off.

Mr Davies said the traffic warden considered Norris had “no obvious sign of disability” and “appeared very mobile”, so he decided to inspect the blue badge on the vehicle’s dashboard.

He noted the date of birth on the badge was 1966, and contacted the council to confirm the identity of the holder.

The council contacted the registered owner of the badge who confirmed she was at work in Wem.

Based on this information, a fixed penalty notice was issued.

Mr Davies said around an hour and a half later, the traffic officer was around the corner in Bellstone when the Mini pulled up nearby.

The driver, now known to be Norris, asked if he had issued the ticket and the officer confirmed he had. He asked if it was her blue badge, and Norris replied that it was before driving off.

Mr Davies said Norris later appealed the penalty notice, saying she was “completely in shock” to find the ticket on returning to the car given that her blue badge was clearly visible.

When the council provided its evidence that the badge was not hers, Norris changed tack and tried to claim she had been picking up a prescription for her mother, the court was told.

However, Mr Davies told the court blue badges can only be used when the registered holder is in the vehicle.

He added that it would also not have taken an hour and a half to collect a prescription.

Mr Davies said: “The reason this prosecution was brought is that these types of offences have proliferated.

“If somebody is occupying a blue badge space they are not legitimately entitled to use, they are displacing someone who is entitled from being able to use that space.

“She had an opportunity to say to the officer that it wasn’t hers. She then decided to challenge the fixed penalty notice so the decision to prosecute was then taken.”

The magistrates ordered that Norris, of Station Road in Wem, pay a £1,000 fine, plus the council’s costs of £2,432 and a surcharge of £400.