Mobility joy riders face crackdown
SPANISH cops sick of boozy able-bodied Brits using mobility scooters are confiscating the machines.
Tourists in Benidorm use them to get back to hotels after a few drinks. They are known as Madge machines after the character who uses one in ITV’s hit series Benidorm.
In the past they have been crashed into glass windows.
Spanish hotel chain Servigroup has banned them from the premises unless the owner can provide documentation proving they are disabled.
Now a law introduced three years ago is being strictly enforced, leading to six scooters being seized in the past fortnight. Police are also issuing fixed penalties for their “illegal use”.
Racing
Resort-based rental firms will have their paperwork inspected by government officials to verify they can legally hire them out. Rules state they can only be rented to people who can prove a disability and are over 55.
Disabled scooter user Val Scott, 72, of Manchester, who is on holiday in the resort, said: “Police have been seen approaching adults on mobility scooters who were carrying young children on their laps. That’s daft and definitely improper use.
“For people like me the mobility scooter is a must.”
Benidorm entertainer Wayne Edward Bellamy-Wright welcomes the clampdown. He said: “The fault lies with the companies that hire out the scooters for improper use.
“I’ve seen people using scooters and then pictures of the same people on Facebook dancing the night away! Kids are racing up and down on them. They should only be hired to people who have a disabled badge.
“Last week a drunk drove into a pillar outside a bar just missing a group of people having a quiet drink.
“People who don’t use one back home have one here.”