'How disabled do I have to be?': War hero Ben McBean, who lost his arm and leg in Afghanistan, ‘stripped of blue badge’
28 February 2024, 06:31 | Updated: 28 February 2024, 10:21
Afghanistan war hero Ben McBean has been stripped of his blue badge, despite losing his arm and leg to a Taliban bomb 16 years ago.
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McBean is furious with his local council's decision to strip him of the blue badge, which he said had been "really useful".
"I don’t understand how much more disabled I need to be," he told The Sun.
Council officials have said that McBean does not mean the requirements for the badge, even though he has two missing limbs - and is currently nursing a broken ankle.
"If you’re a double amputee, you have a disability, no question about it.
"The badge had been really useful for me to use, especially when I needed to visit the hospital," he said.
Ben, who lives in Plymouth, was initially given a blue badge after he was injured in Afghanistan 16 years ago, but it was taken away when he ran the London Marathon with a prosthetic leg.
It was given back to him in 2021, with the help of veterans minister and Plymouth MP Johnny Mercer.
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Now his renewal application has been rejected by Plymouth City Council, McBean has claimed.
He has also been 'told he can pay £10 to reapply'.
He told the publication: “I won’t be bothering.
"When you fill out the form, there isn’t a spot I could write my injuries in.
“If I could actually tell them I’m a double amputee, it’d be far easier.
"Instead, it’s a series of boxes to do with allowances, and I don’t tick the right boxes clearly, or didn’t meet the right criteria."
LBC has contacted Plymouth City Council for comment.
