Disabled badges are being stolen to fuel a new black market trade.

The EU badges are being bought for up to £400 by drivers desperate to beat Brighton and Hove's tough new Parking regulations.

A dozen of the blue permits, which allow motorists to park for free on yellow lines across the UK and Europe, have been stolen from cars owned by disabled drivers in just one part of the city.

The new blue badges replaced their orange forerunners in April 2000 as part of a initiative to match the rest of Europe.

But because they do not feature the car's registration number and only show the owner's name and photo they have become a target for criminals.

Campaign group Access in Brighton said badge thefts were on the increase across the city.

Secretary Kassie Goddon said: "It is a major problem. I imagine it is happening across the whole country but it is certainly worse in places like Brighton and Hove where parking is so bad.

"It has got much worse since the change from orange to blue because now they are worth more as people can use them all over Europe as well as this country.

"Able-bodied people can save an awful lot of money and effort if they have one.

"There is not much anyone can do about it unless traffic wardens confront people to check it is their photo on the badge. If disabled spaces are taken by people using the badges illegally then people who are genuinely disabled and need the spaces are pushed out. It is not fair."

Val Richards, co-ordinator of the Brighton and Hove Federation of Disabled People, said: "It is happening quite a lot. I've been hearing about it all the time lately. It is very worrying.

"Brighton and Hove is awful to park in and these badges are vital to disabled people trying to exist in the city.

"The badges are a godsend for them because, for once, disabled people have an advantage over able- bodied people but this is why they are so precious. Whoever is doing this is exploiting disabled people."

Steve Percy, chairman of action group People's Parking Protest in Brighton and Hove, said he believed the badges were being copied and sold in bulk.

He said: "They are allegedly being copied on computers so they can be sold en masse.

"In Brighton and Hove there is a huge demand for these badges because there is a lack of parking spaces.

"It is a bad thing as it is flooding the disabled bays and depriving the people who genuinely need to park there."

Brighton and Hove City Council confirmed 12 badges had been stolen in the Preston Road area of Brighton since last weekend.

A spokesman said: "Blue Badges is a national scheme and fraud relating to it is a problem nationally.

"Our advice to users is to keep them hidden from view when not in use.

"Because the badges offer free parking and parking in restricted areas, people obviously perceive they have a value.

"We cannot rule out the possibility they are being sold on some sort of black market.

"We would completely reject any notion that our controlled parking schemes are in any way causing these thefts. It is crime, pure and simple, and a very sick crime at that.

"Enforcement of parking regulations has greatly improved since the council took control of it.

"This has led to a reduction in illegal and dangerous parking.

"Fire engines and refuse trucks can now get down streets without being blocked and buses are operating much more efficiently.

"Our parking attendants accept badges as bona fide unless they feel they have good reason not to.

"But they issue parking tickets if they feel the system is being abused.

"These are, of course, waived if the badge holder is bona fide."