Optometrist fined £1,265

An optometrist was ordered to pay £1,265 in fines and costs for using a dead woman's disabled badge to park for free.

Charanjeev Virdee of Fairview Crescent, Rayners Lane used the blue badge he found in Eye Level Opticians, the practice he owns in Ladbroke Grove, to park across London.

Caught parking in Kensington Sports Centre car park, Virdee claimed the badge belonged to his aunt, who he'd dropped off in Portobello road.

After being caught using the badge outside his practice on another occasion he admitted to officers that he'd panicked and lied.

Virdee appeared in West London Magistrates Court on July 1, where he was fined £500 and £250 for using the badge and changing the expiry date from 2004 to 2009. The optometrist was also ordered to pay a total of £515 in costs.