PLANS to extend blue badges to people with hidden disabilities next year have been welcomed by local politicians.

But a leading disability rights activist has called for the changes – which could help millions of people with learning disabilities, autism and mental health issues – to be introduced sooner.

Long-time campaigner Barry Thorne, a Keighley town councillor, is angry that the expansion of the parking scheme is already happening in Scotland and Wales.

Cllr Thorne, who has a grown-up son with learning disabilities, said he welcomed the Government’s plans to extend access to blue badges from only people with physical disabilities.

But he said: “I am shocked at the announcement which seemed to say this was new rather than a U-turn.

“This is not a new policy, as they took the right to blue badges away from people with learning disabilities when benefits changed from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payments.”

Cllr Thorne, a funding officer with Bradford Disability Sports and Leisure, called on Keighley MP John Grogan to ask in Parliament why the Government was waiting until next year to introduce the change.

He added: “Why are Wales and Scotland carrying the change now and this lot are waiting till 2019? There will not be a cost to public funds as people have to pay for the blue badges.”

Mr Grogan said he sympathised with people who wanted to see the blue badge expansion in place as soon as possible.

But he added: “It will require a special order to be passed through Parliament before it can take effect.”

Mr Grogan said a simple thing such as being able to park a car easily could make a significant difference to some people’s lives.

He said: “Having the ability to be assured a parking space can help encourage them to go out and engage with people, and avoid becoming isolated and cut off at home.

“This new approach also recognises that tasks that many of us take for granted – like going to the shops – can be a big challenge for some people with mental health problems or hidden disabilities.

Currently about 2.4 million people have blue badges in England, allowing people predominantly with physical disabilities to park to their destinations, including on yellow lines.

In the biggest change to the system in 40 years, that right will be extended to some people with hidden conditions including mental health difficulties.

The new criteria will extend eligibility to those who cannot undertake a journey “without there being a risk of serious harm to their health or safety or that of any other person (such as young children with autism)”.

They will also include those who cannot do so without it causing them “very considerable psychological distress and those [who] have very considerable difficulty when walking”.

The change has been welcomed as a “massive step” and a “lifeline” by the National Autistic Society, whose members areoften find leaving the house a challenge without detailed preparation and sometimes overwhelming anxiety about plans going wrong.