A SCOTTISH pensioner who has had part of both legs amputated has been refused a blue badge for disabled parking by his council.
Tom Hannah, 73, from Rosyth had two separate amputations last year due to a circulation problem caused by an irregular heart beat. But he's been refused the disabled parking badge because he can walk over a distance of 20 yards - but only with crutches and help.
A Fife Council officer has admitted that while it appeared to be "common sense" that Mr Hannah should qualify for a badge, they had to stick to the letter of the law based on information they had received on his application form.
Mr Hannah said: "If I don't get a blue badge I won't be able to go anywhere - because I won't be able to park near the shops. I was so angry when I was told that I would not be eligible for one because I can walk a short distance with my crutches.
"I had a blue badge and now it's time for renewal, questions are being asked about how far I can walk."
Anne Cowan, Fife Council's lead professional for accessible transport and concessions, said: "Common sense would suggest he is eligible for a blue badge but the way his mobility was described did not meet the national scheme criteria.
"We explained this to Mr Hannah over the phone and are continuing to discuss the situation with him."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article