FRUSTRATED Kendal residents have started a petition to oppose the moving of disabled parking bays in the town centre.

Cumbria County Council's South Lakeland area committee approved a six-month trial in November to remove the blue badge parking bays on Market Square and Finkle Street.

Blue badge holders are now able to use dual-use loading bays on Highgate and Stricklandgate, which will be available for them between 11am and 4pm, when taxis and delivery vehicles will be forbidden from using them.

Shirley Alker, a blue badge holder who has organised the petition, said she feared it would result in fewer places if any taxis and delivery vehicles ignored the restriction and vied for places.

"At busy times, blue badge holders have got to shop in the centre of Kendal and are unable to find a vacant bay. They return home with empty baskets. If we do not have parking bays available we lose the right to shop.

"There are going to be more and more blue badge holders. There is an ageing population and many people retire to the area. More bays are obviously needed now, not the closure of some of the ones we have. We want the dual-use bays and the ones they have closed."

In making its decision, CCC cited the lack of objection or response from disability groups contacted about the proposal.

However, Mrs Alker explained that not all blue badge holders are represented by disability organisations, and there is not a group for blue badge holders as a whole.

She added that blue badge holders are anybody who has difficulty walking more than 100 yards, so many are simply elderly, rather than disabled.

At the meeting at which the trial was approved, motion proposer Cllr Peter Thornton said: "This is not a trade-off between the rights of disabled parkers and the market.

"This is the way forward to give disabled drivers a better chance to be able to park in the town centre seven-days-a-week.

"At the moment if you are a disabled driver and want to visit the market, you cannot park nearby. These new disabled bays will be available on the two days a week when the markets are on."

Victoria Upton, a Traffic Management Engineer at CCC, explained that one of the main reasons for moving the parking spaces from Market Street was to limit the number of vehicles in the pedestrianised area. It was in keeping with this policy that the bays on Finkle Street were also to be removed.

However, Mrs Alker argued that safety in a pedestrianised area could also be achieved by imposing a five miles per hour speed limit on cars using the bays.

Mrs Alker will be putting the petition in locations around Kendal, and is inviting anybody - blue badge holder or not - to take a sheet and help collect signatures.

Anyone wishing to help can contact her on 01539 727004. She explained that you will need to state your name and why you are ringing her to her answering machine before she is able to pick up.