PARKING in Blackburn town centre has been criticised after a taxi driver was hit with a penalty notice despite displaying his passenger’s disabled badge.

Taxi driver Mohamed Shafiq, 42, received a ticket while helping a partially sighted pensioner to her hair appointment at Alan Rene’s hair salon in Church Street.

The pensioner’s badge was displayed in the vehicle but had not been seen by the parking attendant, Mr Shafiq said.

Staff at Alan Rene hit out about the state of parking in Blackburn, saying the extension of The Mall has lead to an ‘inconvenience’ for their customers.

Mr Shafiq, who works for B and B Taxis, claims he was ‘literally two minutes’ helping a regular customer to her weekly appointment.

He said: “I can’t believe a ticket was issued for being helpful. I placed the lady’s disabled badge in the front window so I could get her safely to the hairdresser, it’s terrible.”

Receptionist Victoria Blackmoor said she usually goes back to the taxi, with the driver to collect the badge for the salon’s ‘regular customer’.

She added: “It really is a shame that the council issue tickets to helpful drivers. The parking situation is a joke and it’s affecting the business.”

Coun Alan Cottam, exec-utive member for regen-eration and environment, said that the taxi driver should appeal against the £60 charge if he thought it was not fair.

He said: “The area at the top of Church Street is double yellows and double kerb blips so no parking is allowed, not even with a blue badge.

“We would encourage people to appeal if they feel that they have been given a ticket unfairly.”

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