Disabled drivers have reacted to changes to blue badge parking rules in Wiltshire.

And not all of them are happy about Wiltshire Council's decision to offer an hour of free parking for blue badge holders.

As of August 1, council-run car parks in Wiltshire are giving an extra hour of free parking to blue badge holders if they pay for a parking ticket.

The announcement comes after the council faced previous backlash for not making pay and display car parks free for disabled drivers.

But for many the frustration remains.

“It must be a joke,” said Ian Cleverley, from Chippenham.

“Disabled drivers need the free parking back, not an extra hour free on top of any time you have paid for.

“It would be a much better idea to just allow the first hour free and then pay for any extra time after that,” he added.

Tony Hill from Ramsbury shared similar thoughts, stating that he now avoids council-run car parks and would rather park on the double yellow lines instead.

“I’m sure me parking on the double yellows will screw up the traffic, but I can park there free for three hours,” said Mr Hill, a disabled veteran.

“It’s not about length of time, an extra hour does nothing to help,” said Nicola Swift from Devizes.

“The point is that disabled people have a job to move around and they live in pain on a daily basis. We should not have to pay for parking at all,” she added.

But Kez Adey, chair of Salisbury Disability Group, pointed out than one hour is better than nothing.

“It’s not perfect, but it's going to really help because it allows disabled people the time and space to get any aids out of the car and not have to rush,” she said.

“We invited Coun Richard Clewer (council leader) along to come and see the issues that we face back in January, and I can’t fault him because he has taken that information and done something.”

Some residents are concerned that Wiltshire Council’s latest move could create confusion as it is not consistent with Swindon Borough Council’s rules.

“Blue badge holders can already park in our surface level car parks all day for free,” said a Swindon Borough Council spokesman.

Wiltshire Council leader Con Richard Clewer addressed local concerns by saying: “We have listened to feedback from disability groups in Wiltshire and acted. We hope that this change will enable blue badge holders to have a better experience while using our parking facilities.”