A PUB landlord who saw red over a blue badge disabled parking fine could win his appeal.

Jason Rylance and his wheelchair-bound father Mick took their vehicle into the car park at Bolton Street, Bury. But because the only two disabled bays were occupied, the car was parked in an adjoining space not strictly allocated to blue badge holders.

When father and son returned, traffic wardens had slapped a £30 fixed penalty notice on the windscreen.

Because Jason has failed to pay up since, the fine has doubled to £60. However, Bury Council have indicated that the fine could be quashed.

Jason, who is the landlord at the Roach in Rochdale Road, Bury, said: "Because the disabled bays were not available, we parked in a normal space alongside. But the blue badge was displayed. We've been penalised for parking in an ordinary space."

He made the point that if the car had been parked elsewhere on yellow lines, then it wouldn't have fallen foul of the wardens should the blue badge have been shown. "Because we decided not to park on the road to avoid any congestion, but to use a car park instead, we've been fined.

"It's ridiculous an area with more than 30 spaces should only have two disabled spots. I phoned up to complain and said I was not happy. It just seems so unfair."

Bury Council's head of planning, engineering and transportation, Brian Daniel said: "A disability badge is for easier access to facilities, not for free parking. National guidelines sent to each badgeholder state that free parking does not apply for off-street car parks, and that badgeholders should check the signs at each site, to see if they should pay.

"In general, disabled drivers do not seem to object to the policy of only allowing free parking in designated disabled parking spaces. The problem is clearly one of some disabled drivers not being aware of the policy or misunderstanding the conditions of operation of the blue badge scheme.

"In an effort to clarify the situation for disabled drivers, signs have been placed at the entrance to all pay-and-display car parks informing disabled drivers of the regulations in relation to free parking for disabled drivers in that car park.

Blue badges may be used for on-street parking in pay and display spaces free of charge."

He concluded: "Mr Rylance is welcome to write in to us, and because of the potential confusion in this situation, if this is his first such ticket, we may consider cancelling it."