COUNCILLOR Paul Bettison has explained the council’s stance on disabled people paying for parking.

Currently, disabled people parking in The Avenue car park in The Lexicon have to pay, as well as other council-run charging car parks in the town.

Cllr Bettison spoke to The News to clarify why the parking fees apply to blue badge holders, saying: “The car park in question is the new one in The Lexicon, The Avenue. There are two reasons as to why blue badge holders have to pay for parking in this car park.

“The first, this is not a council car park, the car park is owned by Bracknell Regeneration Partnership. This means that the council has no impact on costs for the car park.

“The second, this car park is very new and was only opened last year.

"The technology used in regards to payment for parking cannot differentiate between those with blue badges and those without.”

Cllr Bettison also said it is not only Bracknell Forest Council that doesn’t give free parking to disabled, as it was a national issue, saying: “Not many councils can provide free parking for disabled people.

"In times of financial struggle like these, councils like ours are not able to give free parking to anyone.”