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Who can park in a disabled bay

Any Blue Badge holder may use a disabled parking bay, not just the person who applied for the bay.

You can only park in a disabled parking bay if you correctly display a valid Blue Badge.

Disabled parking bays cannot be used by carers or other visitors unless they:

  • are Blue Badge holders, or
  • have the Blue Badge holder in the vehicle with them, or 
  • are picking up or dropping off the Blue Badge holder close to where they need to go.

For more information see Blue Badge parking permits for disabled people.

Request a disabled parking bay

​​​​If you are a Blue Badge holder with no usable off-street parking space, and you have difficulty in parking on the street near your home, we may be able to provide a disabled parking bay near your home. Owning a Blue Badge does not mean that we will provide a bay automatically.

Report a problem with a disabled parking bay​

Who can apply

You can apply for a disabled parking bay if all of the following conditions are met:

  1. you have a valid Blue Badge
  2. you have mobility difficulties
  3. you drive a vehicle
  4. you have no off-street parking, such as a drive, garage or rear vehicular access
  5. there is a shortage of on-street parking near your home

A council officer will check the availability of parking near your home before approving your application.

A disabled parking bay will not be provided for services such as the Patient Transport Service, Dial-a-Ride or Merton Association for the Disabled.

When we may not be able to offer a bay

We may not grant your application, even though you meet the criteria above, if:

  • you do not provide all the information requested on the application form
  • a bay would result in the remaining width of carriageway available being less than 3.05 metres
  • it would result in an unreasonable loss of parking space to other residents because of the presence of other disabled parking bays nearby
  • it could cause an obstruction
  • the conditions of the site are inappropriate.

What happens after your application

If your application is approved, we will carry out a statutory consultation. All objections would need to be addressed prior to progressing the installation of the disabled parking bay.

We may ask you for more information and evidence before progressing your application.

Following our decision, it may take four months or more before a bay can be installed.