A pensioner who says his mobility scooter has been stopped by police for not having a tax disc wants to raise awareness of the issue.
Brian Dean, 68, of Hillyfields in Loughton, claims his scooter, which he uses to cope with problems getting around, has been pulled over twice by police telling him he needed the disc, but he cannot find the form needed to apply for one.
He added: “Thousands of people must have these scooters and not know they need a tax disc.
“When I was first pulled over in March, I was in the road going around a skip that was left half in the pavement and half in the road.
“The policeman put the blue lights on, but I hadn’t done anything wrong, so I didn’t pull over. Then he said ‘are you going to pull over?’ and told me I needed a tax disc.”
He said that despite asking for a tax disc form for the scooter at post offices in Loughton, Epping and Central London and writing to Transport Secretary Stephen Hammond, he still had no idea where to find one.
“I don’t know what the penalty is for not having one,” he added. “No-one mentioned to me when I bought the scooter that I needed one and I haven’t seen anything about it in the press.”
He added that he was worried about how else owners of mobility scooters, which must currently have a duty-free tax dist if they can travel at five to eight miles an hour, might be regulated in the future.
“Once people have a tax disc, will they need compulsory MoT checks every year? It’s going to cost the disabled a lot of money.”
The Guardian has asked the DVLA to comment.
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