DISABLED drivers who need a parking bay outside their home could be set for a long wait after a council decided to disband the committee which deals with the applications.

Hyndburn Council has ditched its Traffic Orders Cabinet Committee - a move which could see motorists wating months for a decision about propsed parking bays.

And it is a move which has angered disabled motorists.

Clifford Nuttall, 78, of Burnley Road, whose wife Majorie is disabled, said: "We have been waiting more than 18 months. It's a shambles. They just seem to be passing the buck."

Mrs Nuttall, 77, said: "I had an operation six months ago to reduce the pressure on my spine. I find great difficulty getting about and I do fall a lot. I have to use two walking sticks.

"We were told that we couldn't have a disabled parking bay because our car was too big."

Mr Nuttall said: "The excuses they come up with are unbelievable. My wife has to walk 200 yards to get to our house. I don't think people realise what you go through with pain."

Stefan and Linda Zglinicki, of Wellington Street, Accrington, have also been waiting for a disabled parking bay for ten months after Linda suffered problems walking after an operation on her spine.

Stefan said: "People park on our road at night to go line-dancing and between 8pm and 11pm we are left with no space outside our house. We have to walk more than 200 yards."

Labour Councillor Tim O'Kane, who opposed the move, said: "We are concerned that delays of up to four months have been introduced into any appeals procedure for applicants who may well have deserving cases."

But opponent Coun Jim Dickinson said: "The criteria is set by LCC. They are considering changing the criteria and where you are judging one persons interest against another, whether they are disabled or not, we would be well advised not to get involved in criteria that are not set."

He added: "On one occasion the authority was reported to the ombudsman, our position is a very reasonable one."

John Schofield, Hyndburn Council's head of engineering services, added: "The Council has decided that the appeals process should be suspended until the review is complete. The Council apologises for any difficulties that this may cause and will ensure that the issues raised by their appeals will be considered during the review."

But an LCC spokesman said: "The rules currently in operation for granting residential disabled parking bays in Lancashire are more than five years old and everyone agrees that they need updating.

"The criteria of six metres for a bay is a national guideline so people can get wheelchairs in-and-out of cars. It should not be a barrier to getting a bay, it is not the law."