Using your Blue Badge and where you can park

Find out how to display your Blue Badge, where you can park, and where you can park for free.

How to display your Blue Badge

You must ensure that:

  • your badge and time disc are clearly displayed
  • the badge is facing the right way, showing the front of the badge

The front of the badge has the wheelchair symbol on it.

Where you can park with a Blue Badge

Find out about rights and responsibilities in England on GOV.UK.

In Brighton & Hove, you can park in:

  • disabled bays, except personalised disabled bays, which may only be used by the disabled permit holder
  • paid parking bays
  • shared use bays

You may also park on a single or double yellow line for up to 3 hours as long as there are no loading restrictions (marked by strips on the kerb).

Your Blue Badge and time disc must be clearly displayed. You must ensure the time disc is set to the time that you left the vehicle.

Your Blue Badge and parking zones

Several light-touch and full parking zones in the city have restrictions in place at certain times of day.

Light touch zones will have a 1-hour restriction twice a day, for example, from 9am to 10am and 2pm to 3pm. As long as you display a valid Blue Badge, you can park for free in these zones at any time.

Full zones have a restriction in place all day, for example, 9am to 8pm. You're not able to park in these zones during restricted hours with your Blue Badge; you must have a valid permit.

Using your Blue Badge to park free of charge in a car park

Car parks in Brighton & Hove have different policies on disabled parking.

Some car parks are privately owned, and therefore, you must carefully check the signage before parking to avoid a PCN.

The Blue Badge team are solely responsible for issuing Blue Badges. They can not help you with appeals of PCNs.

Where you cannot park with a Blue Badge

You cannot park on yellow lines with a loading ban; loading bans are marked by yellow strips on the kerb.

A single yellow line with a loading ban will have a single kerb marking. Double yellow lines will have a double kerb marking.

Photograph of double yellow lines kerb markings

For a single yellow line, a sign on the street will tell you when the loading ban is in place.

You should not park in a:

  • loading bay
  • motorcycle bay
  • permit bay
  • bus stop
  • taxi rank
  • ambulance bay
  • police bay
  • doctors bay
  • red route

You also should not park where it could cause an obstruction or danger to other road users.

The Blue Badge is not a licence to park anywhere. If you park where you should not, you could:

  • be fined
  • receive a PCN
  • have your vehicle removed

Do not park where it would endanger, inconvenience or obstruct pedestrians or other road users.

Some examples of dangerous or obstructive parking include:

  • at school entrances, bus stops, on a bend, or near the brow of a hill or hump bridge
  • parking opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space
  • where it would make the road narrow, such as by a traffic island or roadworks
  • where it would hold up traffic, such as in narrow stretches of road or by blocking vehicle entrances
  • where emergency vehicles stop or go in and out, such as hospital entrances
  • where the kerb has been lowered or the road raised to help wheelchair users
  • on a pavement, unless signs permit it

You cannot use your Blue Badge to park in private car parks.