A Wembley driver who used a stolen disabled blue badge to avoid paying to park has been given a suspended jail sentence and fined.

Sahra Elmi Yusef admitted three counts of fraud and one road traffic offence for using the special parking permits which are meant for disabled people.

The court heard she was caught using the badge by a traffic warden on patrol in Wembley who issued her car with a fine last October.

Subsequent enquiries revealed the badge, which had been reported as stolen a year before, had been used by the same vehicle Yusef was driving on two previous occasions.

Yusef was given a 12-week suspended sentence, ordered to pay a £380 fine and a victim surcharge of £80, as well as having to complete 120 hours of unpaid community work.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, added: “Blue badges are an essential means of helping to make our borough and local amenities accessible to all, which is why abuse of the badge scheme is so infuriating and unfair.

“Many disabled people rely on their blue badge to help them live independently, take part in the local community and contribute to their local economy. Every time a blue badge is used by someone who it does not belong to, that parking space is taken away from a disabled person who genuinely needs it.

“We are determined to do everything we can to protect the quality of life for our disabled and vulnerable residents, and will continue to come down hard on and prosecute those caught abusing the blue badge scheme.”