A woman who used her mother's blue badge to park illegally has been fined more than £300.

Fanoulla Nicolaou, of Pembroke Road, Palmers Green, pleaded guilty to using a blue badge without permission at Tottenham Magistrates Court and was ordered to pay a £135 fine and £200 costs.

She was spotted using a blue badge when she left a Nissan Micra in a pay and display bay in Station Parade, Enfield, on July 2.

When she returned following a 15-minute shopping trip, officers asked to examine her blue badge and spotted it had the photograph of an older woman on it, a woman Nicolaou admitted was her mother.

The overall cost of paying for the 15 minutes' parking would have been 40p.

Enfield Council’s cabinet Member for environment and community safety, Councillor Chris Bond, said: “This case just beggars belief. It costs 40 pence to park in an on street bay for 15 minutes and yet this inconsiderate, thoughtless and selfish woman decided to avoid paying this sum and instead deprived a disable person of a parking space so she could nip to the shops.
 
“Her behaviour was unacceptable, and she has paid a very high price for her behaviour, I hope she has learned her lesson and thinks long and hard about misusing a blue badge again in the future. Blue badges are there to help the genuinely needy and make their lives a little easier, they don’t exist to allow people to avoid parking fees and park their cars wherever they want.”