Cornwall’s Blue Badge parking rule doesn’t apply everywhere

You pull into a car park, blue badge on the dashboard, and assume the same rules apply wherever you park. Across a lot of Cornwall that is true. It just is not true everywhere, and getting it wrong can mean a ticket on the windscreen instead of a discount.

How the extra hour works

Cornwall Council gives Blue Badge holders an extra hour of free parking in all of its own car parks. It is a straightforward concession, and one that plenty of badge holders build into how they plan a trip into town.

📷Credit: Cornwall Council

Where it does not apply

The catch is what happens once you leave a Cornwall Council car park for a privately run one. Private car parks set their own rules, and Cornwall Council has said many do not offer the same concessions to Blue Badge holders. A badge on the dashboard that guarantees an extra free hour on one street can mean nothing at all on the next.

What to do before you leave the car

The advice is simple, even if it takes an extra minute you might be tempted to skip. Always check the noticeboard in the car park itself before you walk away from the vehicle. It is the noticeboard, not the badge, that decides whether that extra hour is actually on offer.

📷Credit: Cornwall Council