A MUM who has lost two appeals trying to get a blue parking badge for her severely disabled son has branded the situation as “ludicrous”.

Lyla Rehman, 34, claims Bradford Council’s main reason for refusing the lifetime badge was that her two-year-old son might possibly walk one day.

Lucas Raedcher has Kabuki syndrome and at present cannot walk or talk and struggles to eat normally.

Wherever he goes, his family has to take his wheelchair, his walker and other vital equipment - but the most potentially life-saving piece of kit they have is the car, said Mrs Rehman who also has a ten-year-old and an 11-month-old.

Lucas’s health is so precarious he has direct access to Airedale Hospital’s children’s ward. He has had pneumonia several times already in his short life.

“We have had life or death situations,” said his mum.

The family has been told Lucas will only meet the necessary criteria to get a blue badge when he turns three.

But Mrs Rehman, of Primrose Lane, Bingley, said despite letters of support from doctors and physiotherapists, the Council has maintained that the prognosis about Lucas’s future ability to walk is unclear, making him ineligible for a badge now.

She said: “What are families like us with severely ill and disabled children under three supposed to do?

“Lucas gets the severe disability element of the Disabled Living Allowance but the Council is not looking at the bigger picture of his condition.

“Different councils seem to have different criteria. I know of a family living elsewhere who got a badge on a doctor’s signature. There is an unjust disparity. It should all be the same “We’re not fighting just for Lucas’s right to a blue badge but for other Bradford families in a similar position.

“We should not have to fight for this at all. It’s ludicrous.”

A Council spokesman said: “The Government’s Department for Transport is responsible for setting the guidelines for the Blue Badge scheme and the parents have been informed why their application has been unsuccessful.

“Additionally they have been advised to apply to the Department for Work and Pensions for the Higher Rate Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance once their child turns three, as if successful they will then automatically qualify for a blue badge.”

The Department of Transport says it does not give statutory guidelines to local authorities who have the responsibility for running schemes.

Mrs Rehman is now calling for change in national policy so babies can be eligible for blue badges and for all local authorities to follow the same criteria.

She has asked any other families experiencing a similar problem to contact her at lylarehman@yahoo.com