A York pensioner has been fined a total of £500 by city magistrates after admitting altering and fraudulently using his deceased wife’s disabled parking permit.

Mr Alan Atkinson, 73, of Queenswood Grove, York admitted in court yesterday that on 20 June last year he had parked his car in a public car park off Bishopthorpe Road, displayed a disabled parking badge which belonged to his deceased wife.

He also altered the badge by changing the expiry date on it from 2007 to 2009. The fraud was spotted by a City of York Council civil enforcement officer who reported it to the Council's Fraud and Investigations Team.

This is the first case of its kind to be sent for prosecution by the Council.