A clampdown on Blue Badge fraud has seen four drivers hauled before the courts and fined more than £2,200.

Islington Council says it is taking a tougher approach to people illegally using the parking permits, which are designed to help people with disabilities by giving them more freedom when it comes to parking.

The fines was dished out by magistrates at Highbury Corner last month after prosecutions brought by the town hall.

Islington’s transport chief Cllr Claudia Webbe said: “Blue Badge cheats have been getting away with abusing the system for too long.

“These badges represent a vital lifeline for many of our borough’s most vulnerable residents, helping them maintain independence and a be an active part of the community.

“We are taking a much harder line on selfish criminals who knowingly obtain stolen Blue Badges for their own convenience, while depriving the freedom of someone in much greater need.”

Cllr Webbe added that the crimes were taking place every day and there were more prosecutions on the way.

Ilker Kermen, 27, of Waltham Cross, failed to turn up to court and was convicted of using a stolen badge to park in Martineau Road, opposite Emirates Stadium, in November. He was fined £600 and ordered to pay costs of £406 and a victim surcharge of £60.

Danyele Barnett, 29, of Pownall Road, Hackney, used a stolen badge to park a Mercedes in Canonbury in November.

She entered no plea and was convicted and fined £600, with costs of £400 and a £60 victim surcharge.

BMW driver David May, 33, of Havelock Street, admitted using a badge reported stolen in Kent to park in his Barnsbury road. Magistrates fined him £800 on top of a victim surcharge of £80 and costs of £400.

A fourth driver, Ghofran Ahmazdi, 21, of Hall Street, Clerkenwell, was caught using a badge that had been stolen nine months earlier.

He admitted the offence and was fined £216 with costs of £356 and a victim surcharge of £30.

To compound his misery his car was also auctioned as he didn’t claim it from the pound in time.