The son of a disabled blue badge holder has hit out after his elderly dad got a £100 fine at a shopping centre car park.

Peter Bradshaw’s elderly father, Frank, was shopping in Accrington on June 3. He parked in a disabled bay in the Arndale Centre car park and placed his blue badge on display but failed to pay the necessary £1 charge.

Two weeks later he received a letter demanding he cough up £100 as a fine for not paying to park there.

Enraged, Mr Bradshaw Jnr said: “The fine was issued to my 85-year-old dad.

“His disabled person blue badge was clearly on display in his windscreen, but apparently in the Accrington Arndale car park disabled blue badge holders no longer get free parking. He didn't know. My dad is so upset he’s now saying he no longer wants to go out.”

Mr Bradshaw Snr entered the car park at 12.59pm on June 3 and left at 2.28pm.

A parking fine arrived at his Baxenden home on June 14, but within days of taking to social media to ask for help and vent some anger, his son said his father’s fine had been ‘cleared’.

He added: “We were offered help by a local resident and she helped us clear the fine.

“I don’t know how she did it but she warned us to never use that car park again – in her words she said it was ‘nothing more than a money making machine’.

Accrington Arndale’s car park website states: “We have 580 car park spaces with 30 minutes parking free, with no return in 60 minutes. All day parking until 6pm is available for £1 only.

“Pay & Display machine is located on Level 2.

“Monthly parking permits can be purchased for £10 a month.”

A spokesperson for Hyndburn Council said: “The Arndale car park is privately owned and managed so any enquiries of this nature will need to go direct to them.”

ES Parking Enforcement, who manage the car park, said: "We are unable to comment on individual cases. On private land a blue badge entitles a blue badge holder to park their vehicle in a disabled bay if they display a valid blue badge in their front windscreen.

"They must however still abide with all of the other terms and conditions of the car park, which includes paying the £1 fee for all day parking if they exceed the 30 minutes free stay.

"This information is clearly displayed in the signage which was audited and approved by our governing body the International Parking Community (IPC).”