Fury as Leith disabled driver blocked in by fellow blue badge holder

A disabled woman was astonished to find her vehicle had been blocked in a parking space by a fellow blue badge holder in Leith.

Lidia's red Mazda was blocked in due to the double parking from the driver of the white Ford Focus. Picture: Submitted

Lidia Brocchin parked her Mazda inside a disabled bay on Friday night in Dickson Street due to the high volume of traffic in the area for the Edinburgh derby.

However the 45-year-old was left shocked when she returned to find a fellow driver had double parked - blocking her vehicle from getting out.

Lidia said: “I was unable to park near my flat due to the football fans parking where I usually leave my car on Halmyre Street.

“It’s the last thing you expect when parking in a disabled bay especially. Those spaces are not exclusive to certain people. They are for all disabled badge holders. I had done nothing wrong.

“I was so surprised someone would behave this way and block me in.

“I was not very well on Saturday but I returned to my car Sunday morning at 8am when I came across the car blocking me.

“I was really upset and sad. I can’t believe a fellow blue badge holder would do something like that.

“She deliberately blocked me in. What if there was an emergency or I needed to go to work? I had no idea where she lived.”

Lidia has chronic back pain with permanent damage to her nerves after suffering a slipped disk a decade ago.

The NHS data analyst called the police and also posted on the I Love Leith Facebook page in a plea to help trace the owner to remove their vehicle.

“The police said they couldn’t get hold of her but someone on Facebook got hold of the owner,” she said.

“The owner seemed to think it was her disabled space. I must admit the system is not perfect in Leith but that’s how it is. I was on my way to go swimming because it helps with my back.”

The incident attracted floods of comments on the I Love Leith page with someone claiming to be the owner of the white Ford Focus responding to the post.

She said: “I am the owner of the white car, and parked there as there were no spaces unless I went over to St Clair Street and as I have a severe disability I parked outside my stair where I had applied for and gotten a disabled bay.

“I am well aware of the rules allowing other badge holders to use them and I accept that. The lady only had to press any buzzer in the stair and it would have been moved for her but she didn’t.

“Like someone said she should have given some thought to the person who acquired the bay in the first place and not left it there since Friday.”

Lidia has thanked the people who assisted her in locating the owner and praised the Leith community spirit.

She added: “I was really touched by the nice comments on Facebook and at how people got involved to help resolve the situation in around an hour.

“The community spirit in Leith is very good and that’s why I was so shocked someone parked like they did.”