A woman who used her mother's blue badge parking permit to go shopping in Great Yarmouth has been given a conditional discharge by magistrates.

Tracey Lawrence, 46, of Ormesby St Margaret, used the blue badge, which allows for free parking on yellow lines up to three hours, in a Peugeot at the town's Market Gates on April 27.

Lawrence pleaded guilty by post at Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court to unlawfully using a disabled person's blue badge.

The court heard Lawrence had been in the habit of using the blue badge to go shopping.

Lawrence was handed a 12-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay costs of £706 and a £25 victim surcharge.

After the case, Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council's cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: “We know that blue badges are a lifeline for the more than 40,000 people in Norfolk who currently have one.

"The team do investigate any reports of misuse that we receive, as this helps to make sure on street spaces remain available for those who need them most.”