People who unlawfully park in blue badge disabled bays could now be hit with a £70 fine after Basildon Council successfully implemented a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).
The TRO applies to council-owned shopping precincts, leisure facilities and sheltered accommodation schemes.
New signage has been installed across the borough to support these measures.
Last year the council teamed up with the Sporting Village to crack down on those who park in blue badge bays, with an initiative which aimed to keep blue badge parking bays for those who needed them.
Neighbourhoods and Public Spaces Committee Chairman, Cllr David Harrison, said: “We are committed to ensuring that blue badge holder bays are reserved for those who need them. We will not hesitate to take enforcement action on those who flout the rules and spoil it for others and with this TRO we now have sufficient powers to enforce.
“It is totally unfair for people to ignore the signage and to park in disabled bays, making life incredibly hard for disabled people and their carers to get in and out of their cars. We are getting tough on enforcement and this is the latest step.”
