The proposals which have been put out for consultation include:

Extending the reach of the scheme, for example, ensuring more parents of severely disabled children are eligible for a badge.

Giving parking attendants the power to confiscate on the spot Blue Badges that have been stolen, forged or are being fraudulently used.

Improving the security of the badge design to prevent forgeries.

Creating a system of national data sharing, to identify Blue Badge cheats.

The consultation also asks if individual local authorities should be given the opportunity to run the scheme in a way that responds to local circumstances.

Mobilise Director of Policy and Campaigns, Helen Smith, said: "The Blue Badge scheme desperately needs updating and I welcome the proposals from the Minister which aim to help combat fraud.

"The scheme is now so abused that it sometimes feels like more people have a Blue Badge than don`t. We need to reduce the abuse and misuse and make it a scheme that really benefits the lives of disabled people.

"However, I do have reservations about the proposal to allow local authorities to run the scheme in a way that responds to local circumstances as it could cause a lot of confusion."

The Blue Badge consultation ends on April 17.