Nichola Dix used a personalised number plate to honour the memory of her late husband. She chose the plate N100 BOB, as her husband’s name was Bob and she decided, on the day before his funeral that she would purchase a license plate so that she would feel a part of him was always with her. This is not the only honour bestowed upon Bob, however, because he was a Divisional Fire Officer who also competed in the fire service football and fishing championships. So now, the fire service has angling and soccer trophies presented in his memory.

Nichola explains, “The N is for Nichola and 100 signifies the score in darts, as Bob used to play in the old days, along with many other sports. He was cruelly taken from me aged only 56. The number plate gives me such comfort, I can’t tell you. I come out of work and it’s like he is there waiting for me.”

Nichola said that she had the idea to purchase a plate in Bob’s memory the day before his funeral and managed to have a replica number plate, BOB 1, made up to place on his coffin. Apparently he had often thought about having his own private number plate, but it was something he never got around to.

Nichola explained, “He is greatly missed by everyone. He was a very fair man, with a vibrant personality. Our sons and I miss him terribly. I know I can’t bring him back, but at least when I am driving my car it is as though he is still with me.”

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Personalised number plates are an ideal way to recognise or celebrate the people or things that you love. Jago Mead’s passion is snooker, having been a fan of the sport for thirty years. He attributes his dedication to watching Terry Griffiths win the World Championships back in 1979.

Jago began playing snooker several years later and became so dedicated to his newfound hobby that he walked six miles to the snooker club every Saturday and would spend his pocket money on playing his favourite game.

He recalls, “I would wait about an hour for the table, play for an hour and then walk home again.”

His passion has continued and even influenced his brother’s love of the game. Jago said, “My brother, Ralph, also became interested in snooker and when we were both working, we would play on a regular basis, sometimes three times a week.” He continued, “Our games have come on leaps and bounds. I achieved my first century (a score of 108) about five years ago and I continue to love playing the game.”

Jago Mead admits that he always thought that private number plates were pretentious and never considered buying one. However, that all changed when he purchased his Mini and discovered the plate SN03 KER. He felt that it would be the ultimate recognition of the sport, which has shaped his life.

“The plate, SN03 KER, combined my love for snooker and my Mini, so I felt I just had to have it. Fortunately, I was able to afford it and I’m happy as it’s unlikely to go down in value.”

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Registration plates are cancelled when the vehicle they are assigned to is scrapped, this includes any car that is destroyed or broken up for spares. It is not possible to transfer the registration plate from a scrapped vehicle. The people responsible for scrapping the vehicle have a responsibility to inform the DVLA and must return the V5 registration document relating to the vehicle.

With regards to vehicles that are written off, something that happens when a vehicle is damaged beyond economic repair, the insurance company agree to pay a sum to the owner of the vehicle and ownership passes to the insurance company. It is then the decision of the company whether they choose to scrap the vehicle or sell it on to someone who may choose to pay the money for the repairs. If you wish to retain the registration number of a written off vehicle, you would have to transfer it to another vehicle or obtain a retention certificate. If you do not take these steps you likely lose the registration plate.

Another consideration is stolen vehicles, which are never recovered. If you find yourself in this situation, you may be able to have the registration number re-assigned as long as the theft was reported to the police and the DVLA have had a record of the incident for at least 12 months. The stolen vehicle must also have had a valid MOT certificate, if applicable and tax disc, at the time of the theft. You will also need permission from your insurance company, since they would have the rightful ownership of the vehicle if it were to be recovered.

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Registration marks were first introduced in 1903 and they have since undergone several changes in format. However, they usually contain between one and three letters and up to four digits, with the digits following the letter combination or vice versa. Prior to the introduction of the suffix registration format in 1963, registration marks had no age identifying letters or numbers. It is therefore difficult to determine the age of a vehicle that carries one of these marks. Suffix registrations are age identifiable by their suffix letter. Similarly the prefix letter on a registration plate identifies the year of manufacture. New style registrations use the two-digit number to identify the age of the vehicle.

Suffix, prefix and new style registrations can only be assigned to vehicles of the same age or older. However, dateless registrations do not carry age identifying letters or digits and can therefore be assigned to any vehicle, irrespective of its age.

Dateless registration marks can be more difficult to come by, because they were issued prior to 1963 and the vehicles they were originally assigned to have often been scrapped. If you do obtain a dateless registration, it is likely it will be one of only a few similar registration marks on the road today. This means that they are often extremely sought after, even if they do not contain commonly used initials. Depending on the letters and digits involved, they can potentially be worth a lot of money.

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The Spanish registration plate system has experienced many changes, with the most recent coming into force in September 2000.

Until the start of the 1970s, number plates in Spain consisted purely of a province code followed by a series of digits. Some vehicles carrying these marks can still be seen on the country’s roads today. This system became exhausted when the cities of Madrid and Barcelona both ran out of digit combinations.

The system that followed took the form of two letters, followed by four numbers, with a one or two letter suffix combination. As with the old format, the first two letters denote the province code, while the four digit number exists purely to differentiate between cars with the same province code and suffix combination.

Province codes usually follow a particular format by taking the first two letters of the province, following the regulations introduced in 1926. Province code problems began to surface when registered keepers travelled to other areas of the country, due to rivalries between regions. As this system neared its end, Madrid and Barcelona were, once again, running out of combinations.

The key change with the introduction of new system is that it is no longer province specific and is, instead, uniform across the whole country. The new number plates follow the format of four digits followed by three letters. There are, however, some letters that are not used, these being A, E, I, O, Q, U and Ñ. The numbers run from 0000 to 9999 and while the letters give no indication of where the vehicle was registered, they may give some indication as to the age of the vehicle.

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Trev Smeaton has long been a private registration enthusiast, having purchased his first one over ten years ago. He bought the plate, E22 BEV, for his wife Bev and was so excited by his purchase that he wrapped it in a Toblerone shaped parcel for her.

Smeaton explained, “It was quite a surprise for her. The plates now sit on a little MG and they look great.”

Of course, after treating his wife, he decided it was time to look for something for himself. He decided to buy himself a present for his 38th birthday and that the ideal gift would be the registration plate, 38 TS. He still uses the plate to this day and recalls, “From the first day it was put on a vehicle it seemed to attract a lot of attention.”

However, his love of personalised registrations didn’t stop there. He decided to buy one for his father, who had long been known by the nickname ‘Smeat’. The registration S17 EAT seemed like the perfect choice.

Trev has since purchased another plate for the family car. This time he opted for T12 EVS. Trev explains, “It’s on out family car. A Jeep that’s mostly driven by Bev. When she asked why I had bought another plate with my name on it, the answer was simple, it’s Trev’s wife driving Trev’s car!” However, he admits that this plate was not quite as popular with his wife as her own plate was.

In the future, Smeaton plans to extend his collection of private registrations with dedications to his children, Hayley and Jamie.

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Most UK vehicle registrations follow a specific format; there are, however, some exceptions. One is for military vehicles, which have followed their own alphanumerical format since 1949. Armed forces plates have either two numbers followed by two letters suffixed by a further two numbers, or for vehicles registered from 1995 onwards, they follow the format of two letters followed by two digits suffixed by two letters. Between 1949 and 1982 the two letters acted as either an indicator for the branch of the services that the vehicle belonged to or the category of the vehicle.

Most armed forces registration plates are black with white or silver characters. The registration mark can be displayed in a variety of ways, across one, two or three rows.

Another exception to the standard registration mark is for trade plates. Motor traders and vehicle testers as assigned trade licences, which allow them to drive unlicensed vehicles on public roads while abiding by certain restrictions. Trade plates can be used, temporarily, on any vehicle and are used to identify the person rather than the vehicle. Since 1970 these plates have consisted of red lettering on a white background. They take the format of three numbers followed by between one and three letters.

Diplomatic plates also follow their own specific format. Vehicles operated by High Commissions, foreign embassies, consular staff and many other international organisations use them. The plates on these vehicles consists of three digits, one letter and a further three digits. The letter is either a D for diplomatic staff or X for accredited non-diplomatic staff. The first three digits act as an identifier of the country or organisation, while the final three digits act as a code, dependent on the role of the operator.

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Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) has been in operation throughout the United Kingdom’s CCTV network for several years. This technology is used on motorways, busy roads and petrol station forecourts.

All of the information collected from the ANPR cameras is stored at the National ANPR Data Centre, which is based alongside the Police National Computer, at Hendon, in North London. Details of every vehicle recorded by an ANPR camera are stored on the database for five years. This includes the exact date, time and location of the vehicle.

These records are crosschecked against the Police National Computer for sightings of any vehicle that is of interest to the police in connection with known or suspected involvement in criminal behaviour. The data can also be used to identify vehicles that are being driven without valid insurance, road tax or MOT certificate.

The National ANPR Data Centre has the facilities to data mine. This means that software can trawl through all the data collected from the cameras to identify any patterns that are of interest. This software can produce intelligence based on the movements of a specific vehicle or it can locate cloned vehicles by identifying an impossibly rapid journey.

The Chief Constable of Hertfordshire, Frank Whiteley, is the national lead for the Association of Chief Police Officers ANPR Steering Group. Speaking on the subject of ANPR, he said, “We can use ANPR on investigations or we can use it in a proactive, intelligence way. Things like building up the lifestyle of criminals, where they are going to be at certain times. We seek to link the criminal to the vehicle through intelligence. Vehicles moving on the roads are open to police scrutiny at any time. The Road Traffic Act gives us the right to stop vehicles at any time for any purpose.”

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When you purchase a personalised registration plate, the DVLA will issue you with a V750 Certificate of Entitlement. This records details of the person who purchased the plate, along with those of any nominated person. Only the people mentioned on the V750 can have this plate assigned to a vehicle of which they are the registered keeper.

Receipt of the V750, does not mean that the personalised plate has to be put straight onto a vehicle, the certificate allows you twelve months to take that step and the actual expiry date is shown on the document. If you are still not ready to assign the plate when the expiry date is nearing, you are able to extend the entitlement period for up to three years, at a charge of £25 per year. You can do this on the DVLA website or by signing section 2 of the V750 and sending this to the DVLA, along with a cheque to cover the fees.

Applications to extend the entitlement period must be made prior to the expiration date. Postal applications can be made within 28 days of expiry, while there is only a fourteen-day window for online applications. If you forget to extend your entitlement, you can send a letter to the DVLA explaining the reasons for the late application and enclosing the appropriate fee. The DVLA will then consider your application and respond to you accordingly.

If you lose your V750 you can apply for a free duplicate providing there are at least five days entitlement remaining.

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The first registration plate, which was issued in London in 1903, was A1. This started the process of using letters and numbers to differentiate and keep track of vehicles. There is evidence to suggest that registration plates were issued in some other areas of the UK slightly earlier, although there is no record of these registration marks.

The first owner of the A1 registration mark was Earl Russell who was among the throng that queued all night outside the offices of the London County Council to secure the honour. He won the plate and an excerpt from ‘Car Illustrated’ on 23rd December 1903 reads, “There has been some amount of competition for the securing of the number plate A1 and this has been acquired by Earl Russell for his Napier car. A Mr. L. H. Oliver of Edgware claims the distinction of personally handing the certificate for A1 over to Earl Russell.

A1 was also owned by the chairman of London County Council, but only for a short time. Later, in 1907, George V. Petty bought the car with A 1 assigned to it. He then proceeded to transfer it to several vehicles throughout his lifetime. On his death, in 1950, Trevor T. Laker inherited the plate. Petty’s last will and testament actually stated that Laker should use the plate until his death, at which point the registration plate was to be sold and the proceeds were to be donated to a dog charity. An ageing Laker actually sold the plate to Dunlop Holdings Ltd, although they did not take possession of it until his death. The £2,500 he received was donated to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

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