Parking wardens will get police escorts as they clamp down on blue badge fraud, in a pilot scheme that could be rolled out across Merton.

Fears for the safety of those checking the badges – used by some disabled people entitled to free parking and restricted spaces – means some wardens will patrol alongside police officers.

The move has been welcomed by the council and police, but condemned by taxpayer groups.

Merton Council said records showed last year its wardens – known as civil enforcement officers (CEOs) – were attacked on five occasions, and suffered verbal abuse on a further 500.

Last month two CEOs were attacked by a motorist thought to be cheating the blue badge system.

He was later arrested and given a suspended sentence.

The council’s cabinet member for performance and implementation, Councillor Mark Betteridge, said: “Tackling the abuse of blue badges is just one of the valuable jobs done by Merton’s CEOs and they should be able to go about their work without the fear of being attacked.

"Our CEOs do an important job and we will not tolerate any violence towards them.”

Merton police commander Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Williams said: “The council has our full support on this issue.

“It is important that members of the public respect officers trying to do their job.

“We will seek to prosecute anyone who inflicts physical or verbal abuse on the CEOs.”

But a spokesman for pressure group the Taxpayers Alliance said: “It’s a sad state of affairs that wardens are at such risk of violence.

“Instead of giving them a police escort the council should review their parking policy so that it doesn’t inspire such rage in locals.

“Not only is it taking officers away from front-line duties to have them acting as personal bodyguards but it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money as many of these wardens simply aren’t needed to ensure safe and responsible parking, they are issuing tickets to try to raise revenue for the council.”

A council spokesman said police would accompany CEOs once a month, with the escorts taking place in different corners of the borough. But the scheme would be reviewed at an as yet undecided date, and could be expanded.

The patrols look for badges that have been forged or tampered with.

Misuse of the badges can result in a £1,000 fine or a prison sentence.

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