"Disabled Badge Holders - Confusing Information"

Today I took an elderly person, who has great difficulty in walking and who has a Blue Badge, to the Primary Care Centre in Turner Road, where he had an appointment.

I cannot fault the treatment that he received but the information regarding the Blue Badge scheme is contradictory and confusing.

A notice by the disabled parking spaces states that to obtain free parking the clock part of the badge needs to be left in the car and the main part (with the name and photo) needs to be taken to the PCC Security Office.

However, there is NO information about where the PCC Security Office is and no-one seemed to know.

Confusingly, there are signs up in the building stating that to register for free parking one needs to go to Colchester General Hospital, but this is (1) not what the sign on by the disabled parking spaces says, and (b) it was not practical to leave my friend, drive up there, find where to register (and technically breach the terms of the Blue Badge as he wouldn't have been with me) and return to the PCC, as his appointment by now was in ten minutes' time.

I met two other elderly people who were wandering around like me trying to find the PCC Security Office.

I took my friend upstairs for his appointment and left him there while I tried to find the PCC Security Office (this information should be on the sign in the car park).

Eventually someone pointed me in the right direction.

Rather than show the Blue Badge, as I had expected, I was told to fill in a small slip of paper and post it in a (non-secure) mailbox.

I was not asked to show the Blue Badge even though I had it with me in accordance with the car park notice.

Although I did everything by the book - which took some time owing to the lack of information and the signs pointing one to Colchester General Hospital - I am now concerned that the system is so poor that I will receive a £70 penalty notice.

Can you please let me know how long these small slips of paper sit in the non-secure mailbox outside the PCC Security Office before they are processed?

I would also suggest that you take down the 'register at the hospital' signs in the building and replace them with signs stating that one can either register at the hospital OR the PCC Security Office, with directions as to where to find the both places.