A GRANDMOTHER is warning others to protect their blue disabled parking badges after hers was stolen from a doctor's surgery car park.
Zena Charles, 77, was visiting Langthorne Medical Centre in Langthorne Road, Leytonstone, on Tuesday afternoon last week, when she returned to the disabled bay to find a thief had smashed her daughter's car window and stolen the badge from the dashboard.
The retired district nurse and community stalwart, who has received MBE for her dedication to voluntary work, is despairing that someone could be so callous and wants to warn other people with disibilities to secure their much-needed badges, which allow them to stay mobile.
She said: “Who would steal from people who are disabled. They have no self-respect and no respect for others to deprive us of our badges. It is disgraceful. It causes me a big inconvenience because I need it for my car.
“It is not only me suffering. I have heard of other victims too and want people in the area to know to watch out because thief are about.”
The mother-of-four has mobility problems caused by a back and knees problems and relies on the badge, issued by the local authority, to park freely close to shops and in the disabled bay outside her home in Lesley Road, Leytonstone.
She now has to wait up to six weeks to have it replaced by the council's mobility team, but once it is, plans to get a protector which locks the badge to the steering wheel to deter thefts.
She added: “I will get a lock, but I am still worried about it because these people are criminals and will always be one step ahead of us.
“I would love to show the person who did this the disabled people they are upsetting. It is terrible that they are targeting the most vulnerable people.”
Disabled drivers can purchase blue badge protectors at a discounted price of £11.99 from the council.
The protector locks the badge in a steel case to the steering wheel, but ensures it remains visible through clear plastic.
They can be bought from the Parking Shop at: Unit 9, Alpha Grove Business Centre, South Grove, in Walthamstow.
A police spokeswoman asked anyone with any information to call the police on 0300 123 1212 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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