Man ordered to pay more than £2,000 for Blue Badge misuse in Shrewsbury

A man has been ordered to pay more than £2,000 for misusing a fake Blue Badge in Shrewsbury, in a prosecution brought by Shropshire Council’s trading standards and parking enforcement team.

Bruce Fielding from London was charged with the misuse of a Blue Badge on 23 March 2025.

At Telford Magistrates Court on Monday, 20 October, Mr Fielding was fined £206, and ordered to pay a victim's surcharge of £122 and costs of £1,693.55 – a total of £2,021.55.

The defendant wasn’t in attendance, but he had pleaded guilty by post.

Mr Fielding had parked his vehicle in a disabled bay on St Mary’s Street, Shrewsbury and had displayed a Blue Badge on the dashboard. The Civil Enforcement Officer on patrol that day had spotted that something about the badge didn’t seem quite right – it looked like a copy, and the numbers on the badge indicated that it was issued to a female born in 1922.

When Mr Fielding returned to the vehicle, there was no female with him. The officer asked to inspect the badge, but the defendant failed to hand it over and instead drove off.

Enquiries later revealed that the badge was a copy of a genuine, expired badge – but the expiry date had been altered to make it appear as if it was valid.