A DISABLED Canvey man is furious officials won’t replace his badly-faded blue parking badge, claiming he may no longer qualify for one.

Thomas Hines, 82, struggles to walk more than 100 yards because of pain in his legs caused by diabetes and relies on a disability buggy to get to shops near his Canvey home.

He was given a blue parking badge for his car four years ago, after being assessed by his GP, but the badge became badly faded.

However, when he sent it back to Essex County Council last month and asked for a new one, he was stunned to be told he would have to be examined by an agency doctor to get a new badge.

Mr Hines, of Kings Park Village, off Creek Road, said: “I’m 82 years old, I’m diabetic and can barely walk a few yards because of my bad legs and feet.

“How on earth can they say I don’t qualify? We even had to sell our house a few years ago and move to Kings Park because neither my wife nor I could make it up the stairs.

“Most of the parking spaces at the supermarket are so far away, especially in places such as Lakeside. We just can’t walk that far.

“We need this badge to get around. I only it asked them to replace it because the inspectors couldn’t read it and I didn’t want to risk it. I wish I hadn’t bothered now. It’s absolutely disgraceful, I’m sick about it. I just want to know how they can justify this.

“It seems really harsh. I’ll definitely be appealing against this. I’ll even go to my local MP if I have to to fight it.”

A county council spokesman said it could not comment on individual cases.

A statement from the council added new eligibility criteria for blue badges had been set by the Government, not the council.

It went on: “Since January 2012, all badges have been produced centrally by a company commissioned by the Department for Transport.

“Since then, local authorities have only been able to issue badges which comply with the newer 2011 regulations.

“The old badge design will remain valid until the date it expires. In the event of an old badge (which is still valid) becoming faded, damaged, lost or stolen, the individual will need to reapply under the new regulations for their badge to be replaced.

“Since April 2012 blue badge applicants are required to have a mobility assessment by a suitably- qualified person. GP reports are no longer accepted.”