IT HASN'T been a happy holiday for one Blackpool visitor. He was booked for parking in a space set aside for disabled people, even though he was displaying an orange badge.

Cyril Owen, 72, said he will appeal against the ticket he received for parking in space reserved for Shopmobility customers in Clifton Street, Blackpool.

Despite displaying his wife's orange badge, Cyril was booked because he wasn't actually visiting Shopmobility. He claims he didn't see a sign warning that only visitors to the shop could park there.

"As we came round the corner at the top of the road a car pulled out so we nipped in. We weren't visiting the shop, but people coming in to the town like us don't know we can't park there.

"We didn't do it deliberately but it's not obvious enough. At the moment there's only one sign ten foot up in the air."

He added: "If they want to keep that area clear why don't they paint a broader yellow line and write 'mobility only' on the road? That could stop other people making the same mistake."

He said he and his 70-year-old wife, Marilyn, have been coming from their Chesterfield home for holidays in Blackpool for about ten years. Marilyn was granted an orange badge because she suffers from heart trouble and diabetes, he said.

"With orange stickers you don't look at signs to see how long you can park because you can park for three hours anyway. I came back after an hour and a half and found I had got a £30 fixed penalty notice. It's a lot for me as a pensioner. It's spoiled our holiday. We come every year to see the shows. I don't think we'll be coming again, it's upset us so much."

A council spokesman confirmed the bay was solely for the use of people visiting the Shopmobility premises and said restrictions were enforced by traffic wardens.

There were no council plans to increase road markings in the parking bays or change or lower the sign, he said. "Bays are marked in accordance with the regulations and if we mark everything we do more clearly we would end up with acres of red and yellow paint everywhere."

Sue Penney, Shopmobility supervisor, said several drivers have not realised or heeded the restrictions, or have mistaken the space for disabled only parking, which is actually on the other side of the road.

"We have even gone so far as putting a sign in our window saying 'Attention drivers, Shopmobility parking' but it doesn't seem to work. It's actually a multi-purpose bay and from 10.30am to 6pm it's Shopmobility users only."