A WOMAN with only one arm has been told she is not entitled to a disabled parking permit - because she is not disabled enough.

Tracie Sampson, 42, was refused a blue badge for her car by City of York Council officers who said she did not meet strict criteria.

But she hit back, saying carrying shopping and parking her vehicle is a struggle because of her disability.

"It's like they are discriminating against me because it is the wrong limb," she said.

Mother-of-four Tracie, of Bramham Road, Acomb, who works at CPP, was born without a left arm from just below her elbow.

She has a prosthesis, but had to take time off work about two years ago because of problems with her elbow joint.

She registered as disabled, and started claiming disability living allowance before later returning to work and learning to drive.

Tracie contacted the council, which administers the badges locally on behalf of the Department for Transport, to apply for a permit to make parking easier.

But she was told she could only have a blue badge if she suffered from a severe disability in both her arms.

She said: "If it was that severe, how are you going to drive? I was gutted.

"How can you say my disability is not severe enough? It's pathetic.

"You are supposed to be born with four limbs and I'm missing one. How is that not severe enough?

"I still have to carry my shopping and put it in the car and I have difficulty parking my car because I am disabled."

She added: "I've never played on my arm. I have always worked and done whatever I can and yet the one thing I have asked for they won't give."

A spokeswoman for City of York Council said the authority had to operate the scheme in line with the national guidelines.

She said: "The blue badge disabled parking scheme is a national Department for Transport (DfT) scheme, although the council is authorised to issue badges at a local level.

"A full outline of the DfT criteria for eligibility can be viewed on the council's website - www.york.gov.uk - under the parking' link."

What is the blue badge scheme?

THE nationwide blue badge scheme provides parking benefits for disabled drivers or passengers in cars.

It applies only to on-street parking and includes free use of meters and pay-and-display bays.

Badge holders may also be exempt from time limits and can park for up to three hours on yellow lines.

To qualify someone must either:

  • Receive a certain rate of the disability living allowance
  • Receive the war pensioner's mobility supplement
  • Use a car supplied by the Government's health department
  • Be registered as blind
  • Have a permanent, substantial disability which makes walking hard
  • Have a "severe disability in both upper limbs drive a motor vehicle regularly but cannot turn the steering wheel by hand".