A widow said she has been fined more than £1,000 in parking charges after her local council did not renew her Blue Badge before the deadline.
June Olley, 90, from Wapping, has been caught in a six months-long ‘limbo’ after being hit with dozens of parking fines due to a ‘backlog’ at Tower Hamlets council.
She first applied to renew her Blue Badge in November – three months before it expired – after being warned by Tower Hamlets there was an up to 12 week wait to receive a new badge.
But despite lodging the new application seven months ago, she has still not received it and has spent months chasing for an update.
A council spokesperson told Metro they first wrote to her in March, and followed up three weeks ago, asking to show evidence of her disability to allow them to renew her badge.
But June said she has received no letters to her address, which has a 24-hour porter.
When she asked her doctor to write a letter to confirm her disability, she was told the council has to request a form from the doctor.
June told Metro: ‘It is absolutely devastating. I’m sick to death that they don’t respond, they don’t give any clues. It is stressful, it is not nice to get these letters about the fines I’ve received.
‘I don’t set out to get a fine, but it happens. Almost once a week.’
June, who has lived in St Katharine’s Docks for almost 40 years and was born nearby, relies on her car to leave the house as she becomes out of breath when walking.
She said her car is a lifeline for her as she uses it to visit her children and to get to her meditation classes, which she teaches weekly in Hertfordshire, and drives her neighbours in her block to their medical appointments.
As she ‘can’t do anything online because I don’t have the facility or ability,’ her lodger, a Ukrainian refugee, sent the renewal application in November on her behalf.
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June told Metro: ‘I didn’t think more of it until mid-January, until I realised I hadn’t heard back.’
Despite leaving messages on several council numbers, she says she didn’t hear back.
‘Then end of January came, and I started getting more anxious and chased even more,’ she said.
She said she visited the Town Hall in Whitechapel in January for advice, where she was told by staff to send a prompt, and then in February she received a call saying that it would be resolved in 10 days, but never heard back.
For the past six months, June has been using her car as normal, with the expired Blue Badge glued to her window with a handwritten note explaining her situation, but it has been largely ignored by traffic wardens.
‘Occasionally, you get a warden who turns a blind eye, but often they give you a ticket,’ she said.
‘I end up paying, because I cannot just be stuck in my flat.’
In the end, her son ended up submitting a new application after June ‘moaned about it to everybody,’ but she is still waiting to hear back.
June said she is lucky for being able to afford the fines, meaning she hasn’t had to deal with bailiffs, but she feels ‘indignant’ for anyone else less fortunate caught in a similar situation.
She added: ‘There’s a lot of pressure and advertising for elderly people living alone, as I am, to make sure that you socialise as much as possible and that you take exercise.
‘I joined the local gym, where there’s a superb guy who does a small class for elderly people, and I go twice a week. There’s a community coffee morning I go to in the mornings.
‘I really have worked on doing all the right things. I have quite a good social life, I go to the theatre and I have good friends.
‘But everything I do requires my car, because I can’t really go anywhere except by my car.’
A spokesperson from Tower Hamlets Council said: ‘We are sorry to hear about Ms Olley’s experience and understand how important a valid Blue Badge is for her independence and wellbeing.
‘To process a Blue Badge renewal, applicants must provide the necessary supporting documentation to confirm their continued eligibility. In Ms Olley’s case, we sent letters on March 4 and June 12, 2025, advising that no evidence had been received and clearly outlining the steps required to proceed.
‘As this documentation is essential for assessment, and the Department for Transport system does not allow applications to be placed on hold, we were unable to progress the application. These requirements are outlined on the council’s website in line with national guidance.
‘We can also confirm that the council does not currently charge a fee for new or renewal Blue Badge applications. If Ms Olley made a payment, this may relate to a separate service or concession, and we would be happy to look into this further with her.
‘We are committed to improving the Blue Badge application process and have recently introduced a new case management system to help deliver a more efficient and responsive service.
‘A senior officer is now reviewing Ms Olley’s most recent application and a member of our team will be contacting her directly to offer support and resolve any outstanding matters.’
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