DISABLED drivers have today blasted plans to prevent blue badge holders parking for free in Weymouth.

A special dispensation scheme offering parking privileges for disabled people is under threat as the borough council seeks to raise an extra £25,000 in parking charges.

Weymouth and Portland borough councillors are set to consider abandoning the existing free parking system at a meeting next week.

John Lambert, chairman of Weymouth and Portland Access Group, says he is going to boycott Weymouth town centre if the free parking scheme is scrapped.

He said: "Without doubt people are going to be put off coming into the town. I will go to Dorchester for my shopping in the future and I'm a Weymouth resident. We feel very strongly about this and we are obviously against any increase in parking charges.

"We have been losing all the parking advantages that were in place over the last few years and this is just another nail in the coffin.

"Dorchester, Bournemouth and Poole have got concessions and of course we had them but now they want to take them away from us.

"Sure, they won't gain any revenue but why does the additional income have to come at the expense of the disabled?"

Mr Lambert said the access group put forward three proposals to the council for the future of parking for blue badge holders in the town.

Their preferred option was for things to remain as they are but they also put forward alternatives including a £10 charge for an annual dispensation permit, which would generate around £10,000 for the council.

The third option was that disabled people pay for the first hour of their parking but then get the subsequent two hours free to reflect the extra time they need to get round town.

The council's planning and traffic committee will consider a report prepared by the council's corporate director of environment Richard Burgess and parking manager Derek Whittaker at a meeting on Wednesday.

It says: "An additional income of £25,000 has been included in the budget for the current year on the assumption that some income from this source would eventually be agreed.

"The council is entitled to amend existing parking charges having given notice that it intends to do so."

A spokesman for the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (Radar) said: "The council for the future of parking for blue badge holders in the town.

Their preferred option was for things to remain as they are but they also put forward alternatives including a £10 charge for an annual dispensation permit, which would generate around £10,000 for the council.

The third option was that disabled people pay for the first hour of their parking but then get the subsequent two hours free to reflect the extra time they need to get round town.

The council's planning and traffic committee will consider a report prepared by the council's corporate director of environment Richard Burgess and parking manager Derek Whittaker at a meeting on Wednesday.

It says: "An additional income of £25,000 has been included in the budget for the current year on the assumption that some income from this source would eventually be agreed.

"The council is entitled to amend existing parking charges having given notice that it intends to do so."

A spokesman for the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (Radar) said: "The Disability Equality Duty requires councils to consult disabled people before taking decisions which may affect access.

"Radar would urge Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to listen to the views of local people and access groups.

"All councils should seriously consider the impact of decisions to end concessionary parking schemes on those who need them most."