Based in Swansea, in Southern Wales, the DVLA was originally known as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre or DVLC.  The Local Office Network is the agency’s network of offices throughout Great Britain.  There are several responsibilities of the DVLA inclusive of the following:

- the issuing of driving licences and DVLA registrations
- organising the collection of excise duties on vehicles (also referred to as road fund licence or road tax)
- selling private number plates

Additionally, the introduction of EVL or Electronic Vehicle Licensing enables individuals to pay their vehicle excise duties online or by telephone.  However, you are still also allowed to take care of your vehicle tax payment through the Post Office.

Contrary to some public opinion, the DVLA has no legal authority where the conviction of motorists who have committed driving offences is concerned.  Despite this, it is erroneously assumed that the DVLA endorses penalty points on driving licences.  When an endorsable driving offence occurs and an individual’s licence is handed over to the police, it is normally transferred to the Magistrate’s Court of the county where the offence was committed.  The DVLA does enter such endorsements onto a driver’s record.

If you have a vehicle that falls into one of these specific categories, it will need to comply with certain criteria before you can successfully register it.  Based on the evidence that you provide, your Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) local area office will assign either an appropriate registration mark or the vehicle’s original one.  It typically boils down to a couple of aspects, namely the vehicle’s identity and a vehicle identity check.

Whenever a vehicle needs to be rebuilt, the identity of the vehicle may come under scrutiny.  Certain questions may be asked.  These questions may include, “was the original vehicle rebuilt,” or, “were so many different or new parts used during the process of rebuilding it that you have broken up the original vehicle?” When a registration mark has been allocated to a rebuilt vehicle, the DVLA has to establish if the vehicle had no original or previously registered identity.  Additionally, if the rebuilding of the vehicle has been significant, you will need to take it to a DVLA office in order to have it examined.

Hudd dreamed of growing up and owning a fancy car with his own personalised registration, perhaps a Morgan with a ‘1 CH’ plate, but it took many years for his dream to finally be realised.

Then, as a young medical student, Charles and a friend decided to pay a visit to a Morgan dealership. He recalls the conversation with the salesman clearly, “We shall be doctors one day and we each wish to put our names down to buy a Morgan Plus Eight. However, we cannot afford the silly deposits required in South Kensington.” “Oh, so how much can you afford?” came the reply. “Twenty-five pounds please,” he responded.

This was written up in the order book, but it was twenty years later when Charles finally purchased his velvet green Morgan, built to his own specification, including customised seats fitted to his frame. He had purchased his dream car and he also managed to acquire his private number plate, 1 CH to proudly display on it.

Sadly, his dream car was the victim of a torching incident several years later, but his current car still displays his dream plate to this day.

There are many special series of number plates in Malta, depending on specific jobs or vehicle type. The three-letter combination on rental car registrations always ends with a K, whereas the third letter of taxis and buses ends in a Y. Any cars which qualify as tax-free have a letter combination beginning with TF, while all vehicles owned by the Maltese government have registration numbers starting GV, this includes police vehicles, which display the three letter combination GVP. Military vehicles include the letters GVA and department of health vehicles include the letters GVH. The letters CD indicate a vehicle owned or used by diplomats.

There are certain exceptions to the standard registration format, including chauffeur driven vehicles, which are used to transport members of parliament. These follow the format GM followed by two numbers. The country’s Bishop and President are both exempted from the registration requirements and only have to display their official logos on their vehicles.

Dolan had been a life long fan of David Bowie and even managed to convince his wife that they should name their first born, Bowie, when he was born on the same date as the superstar. Years later, he was looking at personalised number plates and came across BOW 11E. Straight away he decided that he had to have it. He was really impressed with how quickly he was able to purchase the plate.

Though BOW 11E provided the perfect representation of Dolan’s musical hero and first son, he then decided he would like to honour his second son, Enzo, in the same way. He had a look around at what registration plates were available and opted to purchase ENZ 30.

Simon Dolan is a successful businessman, running SJD Accountancy, which he originally ran from his home, seventeen years ago and is now one of the top fifty accountancy firms in the country. Dolan feels that his personalised number plates add to his status, as people are always commenting on them. Bowie fans regularly photograph the BOW 11E plate, but Dolan says they are often disappointed when they discover the star himself isn’t driving the vehicle.

There are some exceptions to the style of registration plates in Croatia. The alphanumerical combination, used on standard plates, is printed in black, but green numbers and letters are displayed on vehicles owned by foreign citizens, temporarily registered vehicles and those belonging to international organisations. Plates on larger vehicles, which are unsuitable to be driven along smaller roads, have their registration numbers detailed in red.

The plates on Croatian police cars differ further still, as they are assigned registration marks consisting of six numbers split into two groups, printed in blue, which are separated by the country’s coat of arms. Croatian military vehicles have yellow plates, though the registration numbers follow the same format as standard vehicles, with the exception that they display HV, which stands for Hrvatska Vojska, meaning Croatian military, in place of a city code.

All of the plates are made from metal, but when a vehicle is displayed for sale in a dealership, it is assigned a test plate, which is made purely from paper. This plate is attached to the right hand corner of both the front windscreen and the rear window. They follow a different format from the standard plates, consisting of five numbers, preceded by the city code and split by the Croation coat of arms. After purchasing a vehicle, the temporary plates may only be used for a period of five days.

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.”

Where ANPR is set up using a single camera at a barrier entrance, the camera should be located in a bollard of around 1m in height to allow direct viewing of the oncoming vehicle. Similarly, if a single camera is responsible for the surveillance of one lane of traffic, the ANPR unit should be pole-mounted at a distance of between 18 and 30m from the oncoming vehicles. The use of multiple cameras to cover multiple lanes, for example on a motorway, is a more complex operation.

CCTV cameras have long been an integral part of our town centres, but these are now being installed with ANPR technology. As a result, the cameras need to be adapted and re-positioned to allow optimum use of the technology. The shutter speed on a standard CCTV camera is 1/50sec, but ANPR cameras should have a shutter speed setting of 1/1000sec, though a shutter speed of 1/500sec would be adequate for traffic travelling at up to 40mph. Once the cameras have been fitted with ANPR their position needs to be checked to ensure an adequate percentage of recognitions.

Police vehicles installed with ANPR cameras usually have them swivel mounted, which means that the cameras can capture images to the front and sides of the vehicle.

She explains that the day started off as an anti-climax when her father handed her a birthday card and an unwrapped pair of denims. Feeling a little glum she nevertheless got dressed for the day.

Sadie recalls, “I went downstairs a little later, all groomed and ready to go out. When I went into the kitchen, my dad said that my brother, Joe, had got me a present. Joe gave me a small box, which I opened to find a Mini keying. Jokingly, I said to my dad that all I needed now were the keys to go with it. At that point he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. By this time my heart was racing and I had butterflies in my stomach!”

When Sadie’s father took her out to the garage, she found her dream car, a black Mini Cooper. However the icing on the cake was the personalised number plate, SAD 11E. Sadie was so delighted, all she could say was, “ It has my name on it!”

Even now Sadie still gets excited about her registration, “Me with a black Mini Cooper was my dream come true. At only 5′ 1”, a Mini fits me perfectly and I became the envy of all my friends. Now, after about a year of owning my ‘baby’ and my number plate, I still get a rush each time I put my seatbelt on. And I don’t know how but everyone knows my name!”

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.”