You can complete on online application available on the Directgov website

Alternatively, you can download the Blue Badge application form (PDF 171KB) and return the completed form (with the requested enclosures) to:

Car Badges 
Customer Finance 
Central Bedfordshire Council 
Technology House
239 Ampthill Road
Bedford
MK42 9BD

A fee of £10 is charged for the issue of all Blue Badges in Central Bedfordshire, including replacement badges.

New Blue Badge applicants should be aware that the application process can take up to six weeks to complete. Renewal applicants, if eligible for a renewed Blue Badge should receive their new Blue Badge approximately one week before the expiry date of your current Blue Badge.

During early 2012 changes were made to the way that people are assessed for a Blue Badge.  Previously, the applicant's GP was asked to assess their eligibility but the government has changed the rules so this is no longer permitted.  From April 2012 Central Bedfordshire Council conducts assessments using professionally qualified and trained assessors.

The new assessment process applies to both new applicants and people who have previously held a Blue Badge.  Because the new process is more thorough, it is possible that some people who have previously held a Blue Badge will be found not to meet the criteria and will no longer be able to have a Blue Badge.

Photograph for your Blue Badge permit

The Blue Badge is a two-sided card which includes a digitally scanned passport style photograph of the Blue Badge holder on the back of the card.  A Blue Badge application will require 1 recent passport style photograph.  This photograph needs to show the applicant's full face so that the Badge holder can be easily identified, no one else should be in the photograph.  The Blue Badge applicant's name must be written clearly on the back of the photograph.  A photograph submitted for a Blue Badge application must be of passport size and passport standard or it will be returned and the issue of a Blue Badge will be delayed.

You can apply for a Blue Badge if you:

• receive the Higher Rate of the Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance (HRMCDLA); or
• are registered blind (severely sight impaired); or 
• receive a War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement (WMPS); or
• have been awarded a lump sum benefit at tariffs 1-8 of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and certified as having a permanent and substantial disability which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking

You can also apply for a Blue Badge, subject to further assessment, if you:

• have a severe disability in both arms, drive a vehicle regularly and are unable to operate, or have considerable difficulty in operating, all or some types of parking meter or pay and display equipment
• have a permanent and substantial disability that causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking.

In these cases, you will be asked to answer a series of questions to help determine whether you are eligible for a badge and you may also be asked to attend an Independent Mobility Assessment.

If your application for a Blue Badge is turned down, you can ask for this decision to be reviewed.  You will need to explain why you consider yourself to be eligible and provide any information you have to support this.  More information about the appeals process is sent to any applicant who is refused a Blue Badge.

The Blue Badge scheme does not apply:

Blue Badge holders may park free of charge and without time limit at parking meters on-street and "pay-and-display" on-street parking unless a local traffic order, specifying a time limit for holders of disabled parking Badges, is in force.  The Blue Badge must be displayed.

Blue badge holders may be exempt from limits on parking times imposed on other users - check local signs for information.  The Blue Badge must be displayed.

Blue badge holders may usually park on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours except where there is a ban on loading or unloading, and at a few locations where local schemes apply, e.g. parts of Central London.  The Blue Badge must be displayed, together with the blue parking clock showing the quarter hour period of arrival.

There must be an interval of at least one hour from a previous period of waiting before the same vehicle can be parked in the same road or part of a road on the same day.

If in doubt, please display the Blue Badge parking disk.

The Blue Badge is not a licence to park anywhere.  Below is a list of places where you must not park:

• places where a ban on loading or unloading is in force (as indicated by one or two yellow marks on the kerb and at the times shown on the post mounted plates)
• where there are double white lines in the centre of the road even if one of the lines is broken
• in a bus or tram lane during its hours of operation
• in a cycle lane
• on any clearway, double or single red lines during their hours of operation
• on Zebra, Pelican or Toucan crossings
• on zigzag markings before and after Zebra, Pelican or Toucan crossings
• in parking places reserved for specific users e.g. loading bays, taxis, cycles
• on a residents parking bay, unless there are signs showing that you may do so, or you have checked with the local authority's Highway Department that you may do so
• in suspended meter bays or when use of the meter is prohibited
• where temporary restrictions on parking are in force along a length of road e.g. as indicated by no-waiting cones
• on school "keep clear" markings during the hours shown on a yellow no-stopping plate

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

Please remember that if you park where it may cause an obstruction or danger to other road users, your vehicle could be removed by the police.  You could also be prosecuted and your Badge withdrawn.

Vehicles cannot legally be wheel clamped on the public highway for parking offences provided a valid Blue Badge is correctly displayed on the vehicle.  But you should be aware that if you park improperly on privately owned land you may risk having your vehicle wheel clamped.

The vehicle must be moved if a police officer or a traffic warden in uniform requests it.

When using the parking benefits, you must display the Blue Badge on top of the dashboard or fascia panel of a vehicle with the front of the badge facing forward so that the relevant details are legible from outside of the vehicle.  If the vehicle does not have a dashboard or fascia panel, you must exhibit the badge in a conspicuous position inside the vehicle so that the relevant details are legible from outside the vehicle.

The Blue Badge should only be displayed when using the parking benefits under the scheme, except if the vehicle is being driven by someone other than the Badge holder for the purpose of entering or leaving an area (which is accessible only to vehicles displaying a Blue Badge) in order to pick up or drop off the Badge holder.

Similar badges issued to organisations caring for disabled people must not be used by non-disabled members for their own benefit.  These badges must not be on display except when the vehicle is being used for the benefit of disabled people.

Blue Badges last for three years only.  It is the responsibility of the Blue Badge holder to apply to renew their Blue Badge before it expires.

You must return the Blue Badge to the issuing authority if you no longer need it.

How to use the special parking clock

When you park on yellow lines or in other places where there is a time restriction, you need to display the blue parking clock to show your time of arrival.  The parking clock must be clearly displayed with the Blue Badge and set to show the quarter-hour period during which you arrived. 

Your duties as a Blue Badge holder

The Blue Badge and its concessions are for the use and benefit of the Blue Badge holder only.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your Blue Badge is used properly.  It is in your own interest that the Blue Badge should retain the respect of other motorists. Please play your part.

You must ensure that the details on the front of the Badge remain legible.  If they become unreadable, through fading or wear and tear, the Blue Badge must be returned to the local authority for re-issue.

You should not use the Blue Badge to allow non-disabled people to take advantage of the benefits while you sit in the car.  Although it is not illegal for a Blue Badge holder, or a non-disabled person waiting for the Blue Badge holder to return, to remain in the vehicle while the Blue Badge is displayed, consideration should be given to using a car park wherever possible.

Your Blue Badge can be withdrawn if you misuse it or allow others to misuse it.  It is a criminal offence for you or anyone else to misuse the Badge and doing so could lead to a £1000 fine.