Website of the UK government

Overview of the Blue Badge map

The Blue Badge map can be used to find:

How to use the map

You can search the map by entering a street, town or postcode. Alternatively, you can pick a town or city from a list of all locations covered by the service.

You can choose the facilities you would like to see displayed on the map from a list by ticking the box next to the desired facility and then click on 'show'. You can see the details about a facility by clicking on its icon.

The map has eight different scales. The facilities will be displayed in the three largest scales (showing the most detail). To change the scale, you can either use the bar above the map or the wheel of your mouse, if it has one.

To move the map, you can simply click and drag it. To do this, place the mouse on the map, hold down the mouse button and move the mouse. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard, although that method is much slower.

Different councils have different parking rules, and the map uses a colour-coding system to show the rules in any given area.

To see what the different colours mean, click on 'Parking rules'. There is an explanation of the colour scheme and a list of councils.

If you would like to find out more details about the rules for a particular council, scroll down the list if necessary to find it. Choose the council and a pop-up box with the detailed rules, including any special exceptions etc, will be displayed on the screen.

• Blue Badge map (opens new window)

About the facilities featured on the map

The map features Blue Badge bays, council car parks, taxi ranks and public toilets in 115 towns and cities across the UK. Red Route bays in London are also covered.

In addition, petrol stations along major routes are featured, indicating their services. This includes cash machines, 24-hour-opening, accessible toilet and ServiceCall.

New on the map are railway stations, including their access level. We differentiate between three access levels:

• accessible - step-free access to all platforms and staff to help
• partly accessible - step-free access to all platforms but there may not be any staff to help
• inaccessible - steps to some or all platforms

In London, Underground stations with access information are displayed.

Where applicable, there is also information on reductions for disabled drivers on tolls for bridges and tunnels.

There are a number of other features, some of which may need an introduction:

Shopmobility

Shopmobility is a scheme which lends manual wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs and powered scooters to anyone who needs help with mobility. Shopmobility centres are usually located in a town centre or shopping centre, enabling people to go shopping and to visit leisure and commercial facilities.

Each scheme varies so it is important to contact the scheme you wish to visit, prior to using the service. In some centres you need to book in advance, for example.

There is sometimes a charge for using the service, though some centres provide it for free.

• National Federation of Shopmobility website (opens new window)

Mobility centres

Mobility centres offer advice and assessment to people who wish to begin, or return to driving following an illness, injury or accident. They also offer advice with regard to getting in and out of a vehicle and with regard to loading and transporting a wheelchair or a scooter in a motor vehicle.

There are 17 Mobility centres across the UK. Although independent, the centres are recognised by other mobility organisations including Motability and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

• Forum of Mobility Centres website (opens new window)

Wheelyboats

Wheelyboats provide disabled people with easy and safe independent access to a variety of waterborne activities such as pleasure boating, angling and nature watching.

There are different models, but all are designed to accommodate disabled people, particularly wheelchair users, and are completely accessible.

• The Wheelyboat Trust website (opens new window)

Accessible beaches

Accessible beaches provide access to the beach by a ramp or slipway and have accessible toilets and disabled parking. Some beaches also have boardwalks along the beach and to the water.

Accessibility of the Blue Badge map

This service uses mapping technology and, while every endeavour has been made to ensure that the service is as accessible as possible, mapping tools are not fully accessible with some types of screen readers.

There is a text-only version of the Blue Badge parking bays, Red Route bays, petrol stations and public toilets search.

You can find full details about Directgov's accessibility policy in the 'Help' section.

• Directgov and accessibility