Government urged to crackdown on illegal number plates amid national security fears
Widespread misuse of number plates jeopardises road safety
- A new report reveals widespread misuse of vehicle number plates, with an estimated one in 15 vehicles potentially using plates designed to evade automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
- This misuse, involving “ghost plates” and “plate cloning,” jeopardises road safety and national security, facilitating crimes from dodging road charges to organised crime.
- The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety (APPGTS) found the current system for selling number plates to be failing, with many sellers operating without proper background checks, some even having criminal convictions.
- The APPGTS recommends significantly reducing the number of licensed plate sellers by introducing annual fees and higher standards, alongside standardising plate designs by banning 3D and 4D versions.
- Labour MP Sarah Coombes and RAC head of policy Simon Williams have called for urgent government action to address the issue, with the British Number Plate Manufacturers Association supporting the report's recommendations.