Parking concessions for disabled people

• How do I apply for a purple badge?
• Can I have a given or named parking bay where I live?
• Who qualifies for our Purple Badge scheme?
• What is the Purple Badge scheme?
• What is the European Blue Badge scheme?
• What are the rules for using my Purple Badge?
• Where can I park?
• Where can't I park?
• Are there any concessions for European Blue Badge holders in this borough?
• European Blue Badge bays in Kensington and Chelsea.
• If I get a penalty charge notice (PCN) what do I do?
• If I get a clamp what do I do?
• What should I do if my car has been taken away?
• How do I pay for a penalty charge notice (PCN)?

As part of our continued commitment to improving the quality of services we provide, we are interested to know what you think of the Parking web pages. If you have any comments you can send them to us using the Parking Feedback form.

How do I apply for a purple badge?

If you ask Social Services, they will send you application forms and leaflets for purple badges and a disabled person’s parking bay. Contact the Accessible Transport Services for application forms.

You should apply to renew your purple badge at least three weeks before your current badge runs out.

You may also find the transport and mobility page within Social Services web pages useful.

Can I have a given or named parking bay where I live ?

We may provide reserved parking bays for people who cannot walk more than 50 metres and who have been judged to need this facility. Each parking bay is marked by an identity number which is also printed on your special permit. You must display this permit, and your purple badge, in the vehicle when you are using the bay.

Important: If you don’t display your purple badge in the vehicle, you (or the driver if you are the passenger) may get a penalty charge notice (PCN), or the vehicle may be clamped or removed. You will then have to pay a release fee before the vehicle is released!

Who qualifies for our Purple Badge scheme?

If you live in the area, the following must apply:

1. You must have been living in this borough for at least three months. (If you are an European Blue Badge holder however, this qualification will not be applicable).
2. You must pay full Council Tax for your home address in this borough.
3. You must spend at least four days and nights every week at the property.
4. You must have been living in the property for at least 13 weeks in a row.

We will accept any of the following as proof of your permanent home in this borough.

• Your name must be on the list of registered electors.
• You must be paying full Council Tax.
• Your home contents insurance policy.
• Your tenancy agreement.
• A letter from your solicitor.

If you are the only person who uses your vehicle and you have one of our disabled person’s purple badges, you do not need to buy a residents’ parking permit.

If you do not live in the area, one of the following must apply.

1. You must be in permanent employment (whether full time or part time).
2. You must be studying within this borough.

We will accept the following as proof of your permanent employment or study in this borough.

1. Your employment contract.
2. A witness statement by your employer, college or university.

We will also give you a European Blue Badge so you can use it outside this borough in the areas covered by the national scheme.

Disability qualifications

To qualify for our purple badge you must have a permanent disability. Also, one of the following must apply, so you must:

• receive the higher rate of the mobility component of the disability living allowance;
• receive a war pensioners’ mobility supplement;
• use a motor vehicle supplied for disabled people by a Government Health Department;
• be registered blind;
• have a severe disability in both upper limbs, regularly drive a motor vehicle but cannot turn the steering wheel of a motor vehicle by hand even if that wheel is fitted with a turning knob;
• have a permanent and substantial disability which means you are unable to walk or have very considerable difficulty in walking. People with a psychological disorder will not normally qualify unless their impairment causes very considerable, and not intermittent, difficulty in walking.

(Note: children under two years of age do not qualify for a badge because they would not normally be expected to be able to walk independently. Organisations caring for disabled people meeting one or more of the above criteria may be able to get a badge, but this is entirely at the local authorities’ discretion and the conditions for using such badges must be strictly observed).

What is the Purple Badge Scheme?

Our new purple badge scheme will replace our existing blue badge scheme for disabled people. The ways you can qualify for the purple badge if you are disabled are the same as the European Blue Badge scheme.

What is the European Blue Badge Scheme?

The national Orange Badge scheme began in 1971, but this has been replaced by the European Blue Badge Scheme. This new scheme gives national parking concessions for drivers and passengers with severe disabilities. We issue these badges to people with a physical disability or registered as blind, who need to be able to park close to their destination.

However, because of the serious parking problems in Central London, the Secretary of State for Transport decided at that time that these concessions would not apply in:

• the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea;
• the City of Westminster;
• the City of London, and
• part of Camden south of Euston Road.

Because of this we, and these other boroughs have set up special disabled badge schemes. You can apply direct to these other boroughs for details of their own scheme.

What are the rules for using my Purple Badge?

Apart from badges held by institutions, all other badges must have your photo on them.

You must display your purple badge on your vehicle’s windscreen or dashboard, facing the front so that anyone can read its details from outside the vehicle.

Purple badges are valid for three years, apart from any purple badges we have given to people who do not live in the area and these are valid for one year.

If your nominated driver lives in the Royal Borough and does not have off-street parking available to them, they must have a residents’ parking permit.

You should send us your badge when:

• you don’t need it anymore;
• it has run out;
• the details are faded or can’t be read;
• the vehicle registration is not valid; or
• a badge that you had lost is found, but it has already been replaced by another one.

You must return your badge if we ask you to.

Your vehicle must not be more than 6 feet 10 inches (208.28 centimetres) high or 18 feet (548.64 centimetres) long.

You must make sure that other members of your family do not use your badge when you are not travelling in the vehicle. You need to make sure that your badge is used properly. This is particularly so for disabled people who are issued with a purple badge under the criteria of passenger. To reduce the risk of someone else using your badge, you should take the badge out of the vehicle whenever you are not using it.

An application for a Purple badge may be refused for the following reasons:

1. if we have reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is not the person whom they claim to be;
2. if it is suspected that the applicant would permit another motorist to display the badge in their vehicle; and
3. if the applicant has mis-used a disabled parking badge on at least three occasions thereby giving grounds for a relevant conviction.

Where can I park?

• Free parking is allowed (with no time limit) in any ‘on-street’ resident parking bay, as long as there is no parking suspension in force.
• Free parking is allowed (with no time limit) in any pay-and-display bays as long as there is no parking suspension in force. The only exception to this rule is the pay-and-display bays at Holland Park Avenue and Notting Hill Gate. For details please refer to the section 'Where can't I park?'
• You can park for 20 minutes on yellow lines to allow for a disabled person to be dropped off or picked up, or for collecting goods, as long as no loading restriction is in place.

Always check if a suspension notice is in force. The suspension notices are triangular, bright yellow signs that are 1.5 feet by 1 foot in size.

Where can’t I park?

At a pay-and-display bay in the following circumstances:

• Holland Park Avenue between 8am and 10am and between 4pm and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday and, on Saturdays between 8am and 8.30am.
• Notting Hill Gate between 8am and 10am and between 4pm and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday and, on Saturdays between 8am and 10am.
• You can’t park where a loading limit is in force, as shown by a time plate and 1 to 3 yellow kerb markings.
• You can’t park in a bus lane while bus services are running.
• You can’t park in a cycle lane.
• You can’t park on any clearway.
• You can’t park on a zebra or pelican crossing, or on the zig-zag road markings before and after these crossings.
• You can’t park in a parking bay marked for the police, taxis or coaches.
• You can’t park in a suspended meter bay.
• You can’t park where temporary parking limits are in force along part of a road for example, as shown by ‘no-waiting’ cones.

Also, you should not park your vehicle where it could cause a danger to other people or where it can cause an obstruction!

Are there any concessions for European Blue Badge holders in this borough?

The European Blue Badge Scheme allows parking on yellow lines but it does not apply in this borough. We have agreed to the following concessions for visitors to our borough who have these blue badges.

• As long as there is no loading limit, if you hold a blue badge you can park on yellow lines for 20 minutes either to drop off or pick up a disabled person, or to collect goods.
• As long as you have made the first minimum payment at pay-and-display bay, you can have one hour’s free parking after the time you have paid for has run out.

We have provided special blue badge parking bays if you hold a blue badge, near to places of interest. You can park for free in these bays for up to four hours from Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 6.30pm, and for as long as you want to outside these hours. During the limited hours, you must display your blue clock in the vehicle (you will get your blue clock at the same time as your blue badge).

If you do not display your blue badge in the vehicle, you (or the driver if you are the passenger) may get a parking ticket, and the vehicle may be clamped or taken away.

European Blue Badge bays in Kensington and Chelsea

For more details about the following parking bays, please phone our Policy and Transportation Division on 020 7361 2553.

European Blue Badge bays Street and postcode Number of bays Where they are Allen Street W8 2 Outside Waterstones Basil Street SW3 4 Outside Harrods Beauchamp Place SW3 1 Opposite number 29 Bramerton Street SW3 1 Outside number 239 Bute Street SW7 1 Outside number 31 Bywater Street SW3 1 Opposite number 132 Cadogan Street SW3 2 Outside number 39 and opposite number 39 (Peter Jones) Cale Street SW3 4 Opposite the Royal Brompton Hospital Campden Hill Road W8 3 Outside Bradford and Bingley building society at the junction with Kensington High Street - two bays Chelsea Manor Gardens SW3 4 Opposite Chelsea Sport Centre Clarendon Road W11 1 Opposite number 70 Cranley Place SW7 1 Outside number 11 Dalgarno Place W10 1 Outside Block X Peabody Estate Derry Street W8 3 Outside Barkers Dudmaston Mews SW3 4 Outside Royal Marsden Hospital Eardley Crescent SW5 1 Outside number 71 Earls Court Road SW5 2 Outside number 284 Opposite number 29 Elkstone Road W10 1 Outside number 1 Exhibition Road SW7 12 Four bays outside Natural History Museum Four bays outside Science Museum Four bays outside Victoria and Albert Museum Foulis Terrace SW7 4 Opposite number 1 (Royal Marsden Hospital) Freston Road W10 1 Outside Harrow Club Gertrude Street SW10 1 Opposite number 33 Glebe Place SW3 1 Outside of 219 Kings Road Gloucester Road SW7 1 Outside number 68 Golborne Road W10 1 Outside number 18 flats 1 to10 Outside the Prince Arthur Public House Hillgate Street W8 2 Outside number 1 Holland Park Road W14 1 Opposite number 9a Holland Villas Road W14 1 Opposite number 44 Hobury Street SW10 1 Opposite number 33 Kings Road SW3 2 Outside World’s End Place Outside number 355 Kingsbridge Road W10 1 Outside number 20 Kingsdown Close W10 1 Junction with Bartle Road Lancaster Road W11 5 Outside number 95 - one bay Outside number 61 - two bays Outside numbers 111 to 117 - two bays Lawrence Street SW3 2 Opposite Carlyle Mansion Lennox Gardens SW1 1 Opposite number 67 Lincoln Street SW3 2 Opposite number 17 Lowndes Square SW1 1 Outside numbers 48/49 Lots Road SW10 1 Outside numbers 91 to 93 Malton Road W10 3 Outside The Epics Centre Milmans Street SW10 1 Outside numbers 359 Netherton Grove SW10 6 Opposite the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Norland Road W11 1 Side of Sikh Temple and corner of Queensdale Road Old Brompton Road SW5 1 Outside Brompton Library Pembridge Villas W11 1 Opposite number 62 Phillimore Walk W8 2 Junction with Argyll Road Portobello Road W10 1 Outside number 356 Radnor Walk SW3 1 Outside Kodo Shop at the junction with Kings Road Royal Hospital Road SW3 2 Outside Army Museum Outside Chelsea Physic Gardens Silchester Road W10 2 Outside Whitstable House Sirdar Road W11 1 Outside numbers 91-93 St Charles’ Square W10 1 Outside number 73 St Helen’s Gardens W10 2 Outside Kensington Memorial Park St James's Gardens W11 1 Outside number 49 St Mark’s Road W10 2 Outside Memorial Park St Quintin Avenue W10 1 Outside St Quintin’s Health Centre Sloane Terrace SW1 1 Opposite number 149 Scarsdale Villas W8 1 Outside number 2 Stanhope Gardens SW7 1 Junction with Stanhope Mews West Sydney Street SW3 3 Outside Royal Brompton Hospital Walton Street SW3 1 Outside number 95 Waynflete Square W10 1 Outside number 80 Wedlake Street W10 2 Outside number 1 to 5 Wedlake Street

If I get a penalty charge notice (PCN) what do I do?

From 1 July 2007, the penalty for parking illegally is £120 for a serious contravention or £80 for a lesser contravention. If you pay the charge within 14 days, you will qualify for a 50 per cent reduction.

You can pay by cheque or postal order, by post, or by credit or debit card over the phone. Details of how you can pay are printed on the back of the notice and are also detailed below.

If I get a clamp what do I do?

If we clamp your vehicle, you will need to visit or phone either the Lots Road vehicle pound or the Parking Shop at Young Street. Once you have paid the release fee of £70 and the applicable Penalty Charge Notice, you can go back to your car and wait for us to remove the clamp.

You can pay by cheque or postal order, or by credit or debit card (Mastercard, Visa, or Mastro) over the phone at the Lots Road car pound. You will find details printed on the back of the clamp notice and also detailed below.

What should I do if my car has been taken away?

If you hold a blue or purple badge we cannot take your vehicle (or the vehicle you are travelling in) to the Lots Road car pound, unless you have not displayed your disabled badge clearly in the vehicle.

However, if your car is a causing a danger or obstruction where it is parked, we will relocate it to a street nearby

If your vehicle is towed away to the Lots Road vehicle pound, you will need to show us some proof that you own the vehicle, and pay the release fee of £200 and the applicable parking penalty charge fee before you can have the vehicle back.

This is the least you will pay to get your vehicle back from the car pound, but this could increase if you have to pay storage charges which are £40 a day. You can pay by cheque, postal order, credit or debit card.

How do I pay for a penalty charge notice (PCN) ?

You can pay by cash, cheque, postal order, credit or debit card as follows.

PCN payment phone line: 020 7361 4300

Clamp removal payment phone line: 020 7376 8402 or 020 7351 1203

By visiting the:

PCN by post:

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