I'd rather go to jail than pay up

The fixed penalty was levied by a parking warden because Mrs Howard-Lindsay had mistakenly placed her mother's blue badge disabled parking permit the wrong way round in her car. Mrs Howard-Lindsay put the side with the photographic ID of her mother, Kathleen Howard, on display in her Volvo's windscreen.

She later learnt she should have put the other side on view with the permit's expiry date of this October 31.

But nowhere on the permit does it state which side should be on display.

That simple mistake could end up costing her the 30 fixed penalty, a 50 per cent police charge on top and enforcement action in court.

She received a letter from the police giving her until February 19 to pay up. Failure to do so will see the police take action against her.

Wheelchair-bound Mrs Howard (90), of Kingsway, said: "I think the situation is diabolical. It's pathetic to think they have nothing better to do than pick on motorists. They should be catching criminals rather than bothering motorists."

Mrs Howard-Lindsay (60), of Roundle Avenue in Felpham, said: "I will go to jail before I pay this fixed penalty. I am not going to pay it and that's that."

She had taken her mother to see the panto at the Regis Centre when the offence occurred in the afternoon of December 19.

She had been forced to park her car close to the centre, in Belmont Street, because all disabled spaces in the centre's car park were full.

"I think the fixed penalty is wicked. If the traffic wardens had hung around, they could have seen me getting my mother in the car and seen that she is totally disabled," she said. She added that she had no way of knowing which side of the parking permit should be displayed. But she was told after the fixed penalty was imposed that she had got it wrong.

"Traffic wardens like to see the expiry date of the disability card," she explained. "If that is the case, then it should be clearly printed on the card: 'This way up'. Otherwise, how is a member of the public supposed to know?"

A Sussex Police spokesman said the parking ticket issued to Mrs Howard-Lindsay would have stated how it could be challenged within 28 days.

Guidance was issued from the Department of Transport that clearly explained how a badge should be displayed. It also states that a fine could be imposed if the permit is wrongly shown.