Blue badge holders who forget to display the parking clock part of their badge when they park in a timed area could face parking fines of up to £80.

The blue badge comes with two parts when issued: the badge itself and a parking clock. The clock is used to indicate your arrival time in the space, so it needs to be set whenever you park somewhere with time restrictions.

According to the blue badge rights & responsibilities handbook: “When you park on yellow lines or in other places where there is a time restriction, you need to display the blue parking clock to show your time of arrival.”

It further provides advice on how to use the parking clock, which needs to be clearly displayed on your dashboard: “The clock should be set to show the quarter hour period during which you arrived. If there is no dashboard or facia panel in your vehicle, you must still display the clock in a place where it can be clearly read from outside the vehicle.”

Blue badge holders who forget to display their clock in a timed area, or set it incorrectly, can be hit with a penalty charge notice (PCN). The cost of a PCN varies across the country, and can also vary on the severity of the offence, but is usually around £50-£80.

Motorists who swiftly pay their Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) could get a discount, potentially halving the fine. But ignoring a PCN can lead to a pricier ordeal; a court case may result in a County Court Judgement (CCJ), which stays on your credit record for six years and may lead to additional court costs and fees.

Additionally, the government has warned about blue badge misuse, such as lending it to others: “Doing so could lead to a £1,000 fine and confiscation of the badge.”