Biggleswade Blue Badge holder dubs process 'bureaucracy gone mad'
A man who has had a prosthetic leg for half a century has described a request for more medical information to renew his Blue Badge as "bureaucracy gone mad".Raymond Dingwall,72, from Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, lost his leg to bone cancer in 1976, and said he had never experienced a problem renewing his disabled parking permit before.He said that after he applied, he received an email asking for more details, including letters of diagnosis, consultant letters - and proof of care requirements.A spokesperson for Central Bedfordshire Council said "all applications are treated as new applications, and we require supporting evidence to ensure fairness and consistency for all applicants".
"The information they require I cannot give them as the surgeon who looked after me when I was very poorly has died," said Mr Dingwall."I have not kept documentation of all the illnesses I have and I have never had a letter from a hospital consultant."
Mr Dingwall, who used to play semi-professional football for Stevenage FC, had to have his right leg amputated in 1976 because he had bone cancer, and he needed it removed to prevent the spread of osteosarcoma.He had long running chemotherapy and after 12 months he was told the cancer had spread to his lung. He then had part of his left lung removed.He said he now struggled to get about mainly due to his secondary "complaints" - he has chronic heart failure, an arthritic left knee, kidney stones, skin cancer on his head and has undergone radiotherapy for prostate cancer.He says he needs the Blue Badge, which expires in August, as "if the weather was bad I need to park near the shops as I would be like Bambi"."People with conditions that are never going to change and only deteriorate are effectively put through the process as if you have applied from day one, which seems ludicrous," Mr Dingwall said.A spokesperson for the council said he had been contacted by telephone to explain what he needed to do, and he had agreed to provide the information required to process his application. They added: "Our procedures and practices align with national guidance as set out by the Department for Transport and are followed by other local authorities."
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