STRICT enforcement of disabled parking rules at a Bournemouth shopping park has led to a steady reduction in the number of offenders caught and fined.

Bosses at Castlepoint believe that introducing a private enforcement company to monitor their disabled parking bays has helped deter persistent offenders.

Peter Matthews, general manager, said: “We don’t get the abuse of blue badge bays that we used to.

“We appear to have controlled the people who used to regularly abuse the scheme.

“We’ve also found that the parent and child spaces are less likely to be abused now they have moved to the lower level.

“People seem to respect them much more now they are downstairs.”