car bay

Dear Sir,
In July I took a picture of a council van taking up two bays, where one was a disabled bay. I spoke to the driver who turned up in his own car who told me there is no disabled people around here and its not a proper bay.
I reported the matter to County Councillor Neil Foster on July 11th who had stated in the Newton News previously he was clamping down on illegal parking.
He has not responded to me and I wonder if he thinks that the rights of disabled persons are not important or if he ignores me he can protect his colleague.
The vehicle should be taken off the culprit and parked securely in a council depot and Durham Council do like other councils and repair street lighting through the day.
The driver should also be fined the same as the public unless on the other hand the bay is not legally for the disabled and improperly marked. Those that marked the bay should pay back the costs wasted from our council tax and I find it sad that my money, along with others is paying for this abuse by the Authority empowered to enforce the law.
Ian Ewart
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Reply from County Hall
Dear Mr Ewart,
Thank you for letting us know of your concerns. Your letter has been passed to me for investigation and response. I would like to assure you we have looked into this matter thoroughly and that we do not tolerate council vehicles being parked in breach of parking regulations.
My investigation found that on this occasion this vehicle was parked partially in the disabled bay for a few minutes whilst the driver changed over vehicles. While this bay is only advisory the county council’s policy is for our drivers to respect advisory markings at all times and all drivers will be reminded of this.
A number of these advisory bays were introduced under the former district council and while they are not therefore open to parking enforcement, they should be left available at all times for disabled badge holders.
We apologise for this incident.
John Reed
Head of Technical Services at Durham County Council