Calls have been made to crack down on blue badge misuse as the proportion of people holding them has reached a record of one in 20.
In December, Jessica Holdsworth of Barbour Road in Abingdon was fined for illegally using her dead grandma's blue badge to park outside Templars Square in Cowley.
And in September, Azeem Ansari of Poplar Close in Garsington was also fined for also using his dead grandma's blue badge in Oxford city centre.
Blue badge misuse is a criminal offence and can result in a fine of up to £1,000 and a criminal record.
A penalty charge notice issued by Oxfordshire County Council will normally be issued to anyone misusing a disabled parking bay.
Now the AA called for more to be done to detect offences such as using fake or stolen blue badges.
AA president Edmund King said: “The blue badge scheme is a mobility lifeline for millions of legitimate users and their families.
“Our concern is not the absolute number of badges issued but the estimates that up to one in five badges may be used by someone other than the holder or authorised user.
“Fraud is an issue which can include family misuse, use after death, counterfeit badges and theft and resale of badges.
“We would welcome a crackdown on illegitimate use of badges to safeguard the deserving users.”
Press Association analysis of the latest Department for Transport data found a record high 5.2 per cent of people in England had a blue badge as of March 31 last year.
Some 3.07 million blue badges were held, an increase of 8 per cent from a year earlier.
In 2019, the eligibility criteria for blue badges was extended beyond people with visible disabilities, to include those with non-visible conditions such as Parkinson’s, dementia and epilepsy.
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While there are no recent figures for the cost of blue badge fraud in the UK, the National Fraud Authority – a now-closed Home Office agency – estimated it to be £46 million per year in 2011.
A Local Government Association spokesman said: “Although the vast majority of badges are used correctly, there is a small minority who fraudulently use other people’s, either to save money by parking in disabled bays or through laziness, depriving someone with a genuine need.
“It is important to catch these criminals in the act.
“To help councils win the fight against blue badge fraud, residents must keep tipping councils off about people they suspect are illegally using a badge, bearing in mind people’s need for a badge might not be obvious.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “Exploitation and abuse of the blue badge scheme is completely unacceptable and is a criminal offence.
“Local authorities have been given improved powers to crack down on fraud and misuse in their area, and work closely with the police.”
