Whilst I applaud Kingston police for taking action on blue badge fraud, I fear they are fighting a battle they can never win. The blue badge system is sadly so flawed policing it is almost impossible even by the police.

The design of the badges makes copying child's play using a photocopier or scanner with very little means of telling a fake from a genuine badge. Some boroughs do add a hologram to deter fraud but this is a very rare occurence. Many local councils do not even bother printing the driver's details but instead complete them in pen leading to faded and altered badges.

Whilst the right to challenge a driver to see the photo was introduced to council attendants last year it does not happen as Mr Relly pointed out in your article. The reason for this is that the badge does not have to be used by the person in the photograph as long as the vehicle is being used to drop off or collect them. Any person returning to a parked car using a badge which is not theirs just has to say they dropped off the person or collecting them when parking. Not many police or council officials have the time in their working day to observe a blue badge car both parking and leaving as they are often parked for up hours.

Some local boroughs such as Merton do even enforce the time clock resulting in short-term shoppers parking spaces being used to park all day causing parking problems for both able and disabled shoppers in the town centres.

The whole scheme needs a complete rethink with better policing, improved badge design and greater powers for local councils to crack down on fraudsters.

Rachel Stevens Garrison Lane, Chessington