A Multiple Sclerosis sufferer has been told she can't have a disabled parking permit as she does not sign on for disability benefit.

Jane Saboula, of Cullingworth, was horrified when she went to Bradford Council offices to renew her orange disabled driver's badge with the new blue European disabled badge - only to be told she was not entitled to a replacement as she did not receive benefits.

Mrs Saboula, 50, who cannot stand for any length of time or walk long distances, believes she is discriminated against because she has not applied for benefits.

She said: "It stinks. I couldn't believe it when they told me I couldn't have a new badge. I may not get the benefits but I still have MS. How the hell am I supposed to go and get my shopping at Morrisons or walk to the cash point? Am I going to have to go late at night when there's no other traffic about? I have to park on double yellow lines to get to the cash point on North Street, in Keighley. What am I going to do now - get parking tickets?"

Mother-of-one Mrs Saboula has not applied for disability living allowance since being diagnosed with MS last year. She believes she is being forced to apply for benefits to receive a concessionary permit.

She said: "I was devastated when I was diagnosed with MS but luckily I've got the least aggressive type of it and I keep as active as possible. They told me at the Council offices that it might help if I got a note from my doctor, so I'm getting one from the specialist in Leeds who diagnosed me.

"I've never been a sponger and I've never asked to live off anyone in the past but if I have to apply for this benefit to get the badge then I'll have to do it. But it stinks.

"I had no problem getting an orange badge and I don't see why I should have a problem getting a blue one. I've still got MS, that hasn't changed."

Peter Hay, Bradford Council's Head of Service, Older People and Physical Disability, said the rules governing blue badges had been revised this year to stop abuse of the scheme and to fit in with national guidelines.

He said: "The way the Council was administering the scheme was revised to make it easier for those disabled people, whose walking ability was most severely restricted, to find a place to park.

"The changes followed lengthy consultations involving Bradford Council's social services and highway departments as well as representatives from disabled people's groups, badge users and traffic wardens, following concerns from some disabled people that parking badges were sometimes being issued inappropriately."

Mr Hay said an approach based on the national criteria for badge allocation was needed where people under 65 have to qualify for the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance, paid to severely disabled people, regardless of other income.

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