Five Blue Badge cheats have been hauled before the courts and fined as part of a crackdown by Brent Council.

The drivers were all caught abusing the scheme which allows disabled residents to park for free on single yellow lines and council-run car parks and pay and display bays in the borough.

Mohammed Habib Rahman, 37, of Harrow Road, Kensal Green, was fined £250 and ordered to pay £270 costs at Willesden Magistrates’ Court. He admitted using his father’s badge with an altered expiry date.

His legal representative said he had wanted to make sure his car was securely parked while he was out of the country visiting his father.

Susan Goldring, 41, of Berkeley Court, Marylebone Road, Marylebone, was fined £185 plus £170 costs. She admitted using a photocopied Blue Badge issued by Westminster Council in a pay and display bay in Salusbury Road, Queen’s Park.

Ali Elmi, 49, of High Street, Bushey, Hertfordshire, was fined £125 and ordered to pay £279 costs. He admitted using an altered Blue Badge issued by Brent Council in a pay and display bay by Sudbury Town Tube.

He told the court somebody else had altered the badge.

Howard Brown, 58, of Furness Road, Harlesden, admitted using a Blue Badge belonging to his wife who died a year ago. He was given six months’ conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £100.

Ciadae Smart, 19, of Carlton Avenue West, Wembley, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £279 costs. She had been caught using her grandmother’s Blue Badge which had an expiry date which had been altered from 2011 to 2014.

All were convicted at Willesden Magistrates’ Court.

Issuing a stark warning to motorists fraudulently using the badges, Cllr Jim Moher, Brent Council’s lead member for highways and Transportation, said: “Anyone else thinking of doing so should remember that Brent’s parking wardens are trained to spot alterations and our audit and investigation team will pursue those suspected of using misusing badges with the prospect of a criminal conviction for those found guilty.

“Brent Council take Blue Badge misuse seriously and we are determined to eradicate this problem in Brent.”