A county news website has launched a campaign to change the rules around who is entitled to a blue badge.

KentOnline says many cancer sufferers and other with life-altering conditions have been denied the parking permits.

Now it has joined forces with three of the county’s MPs to call on ministers to look into how people are given the badges.

It launched its Blue Badge Battle campaign after featuring numerous stories of people whose applications for the permits were turned down.

The website reported how a 79-year-old pensioner with leukaemia, a tumour and heart problems, had his application refused, despite needing a stairlift and mobility scooter.

Another local resident was denied a badge even though she had been diagnosed with cancer, had a toe amputated, and was found to have blood clots of her lungs that impacted how far she could walk.

Reporter Elli Hodges, who is leading the campaign, said: “As soon as we published the first story on this issue, we knew there was a much larger problem.

“We were – and continue to be – inundated with messages from people who clearly need a temporary Blue Badge.

“We have been delighted that so many MPs have decided to back the campaign. Already there is a lot going on at Westminster which we hope will have a positive effect.

“We’re really proud to be fighting for our readers in this way.”

The badges are issued by Kent County Council in line with guidance from the Department for Transport (DfT) which has a strict criteria, focused on mobility, which applicants have to meet.

This decrees that applicants need to prove their conditions would impact them for three years, ruling out many who are suffering temporary disability.

One of the MPs backing the campaign is Maidstone and Malling’s Helen Grant, who has herself battled cancer.

She said: “I think anything we can do to help people to be mobilised and to access goods and services while they are going through these difficulties is important.”