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Missed penalty

My wife, who is 79, regularly takes our neighbour, who is 93, to Tesco. Recently he forgot to display his blue badge and in spite of his showing it to the warden on return to the car, I have received a demand for £90. I supposed this was an initiative by the local manager, so I wrote to him about it, and was very surprised to read of a similar incident in your column last Saturday, suggesting that this is indeed Tesco corporate policy. I wonder how they could put their hard-won reputation for being customer-friendly at risk for a few pounds. Perhaps they really need the money? The wording of their notice requires ownership of a blue-badge and not its display and so I have declined to pay. I am still astonished that Tesco is content that its public face should be that of a traffic warden.

Asked on 19 December 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
You do not have to pay it because you did not park the car. It is unenforceable in law against you. Only penalties for offences on public roads are enforceable against the ‘keeper’ of the vehicle. Neither are you legally obliged to identify the driver of the car.
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