The Government has launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal, cloned and so-called “ghost” number plates as ministers target motorists evading cameras and organised criminals using the road network.
The Department for Transport and Home Office announced on 5 September that government funding is supporting a new National Roads Policing Coordination Centre, bringing police forces across England together to share intelligence, technology and data.
Police will also trial specialised goggles capable of detecting number plates that have been deliberately altered to make them unreadable by cameras.
The Government says illegal plates are used not only to avoid speeding, parking and clean-air-zone penalties but also to conceal vehicles connected with organised crime and the movement of illegal goods.
New national roads-policing centre
The National Roads Policing Coordination Centre will coordinate work between forces in England and develop a more consistent national response to illegal and untraceable registration plates.
The aim is to improve intelligence sharing and make better use of data so that vehicles attempting to evade Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems can be identified more quickly.
Roads Minister Justin Madders said the centre would give police the tools and intelligence needed to tackle offenders who believe they can escape detection by manipulating their number plates.
The initiative forms part of the Government's wider Road Safety Strategy, published earlier this year.
Special goggles to expose ‘ghost’ plates
Among the more unusual technologies being trialled are specialised goggles designed to identify plates that have been altered to defeat cameras.
So-called ghost or stealth plates can use reflective coatings, films or other modifications intended to interfere with Automatic Number Plate Recognition and speed-camera systems.
Some plates may appear readable to the human eye while becoming difficult for infrared-based camera technology to capture correctly.
The new equipment is intended to help officers identify such alterations during roadside enforcement.
Police operation uncovered wider criminality
The crackdown follows enforcement work already carried out by West Yorkshire Police as part of the national effort.
According to the National Police Chiefs' Council, a week-long operation saw 183 vehicles stopped and arrests made for offences including dangerous driving, theft and breach of bail.
Fourteen vehicles were seized for offences including disqualified driving, having no insurance or the driver having no licence, while six cloned vehicles were also seized.
Officers additionally issued 46 traffic offence reports for seatbelt offences and detected drivers using mobile phones, speeding and vehicles with MOT offences.
The results illustrate why police increasingly regard illegal plates as more than a motoring-compliance issue: stopping a vehicle attempting to hide its identity can expose other criminal activity.
Cloned plates can leave innocent motorists with fines
Cloned registration plates create a different problem by copying the identity of a legitimate vehicle, often one of the same make, model and colour.
Offences committed by the cloned vehicle can then be recorded against the innocent registered keeper, leaving victims facing parking penalties, congestion charges or other enforcement notices for journeys they never made.
The Government says improving detection should therefore protect legitimate motorists as well as help police pursue offenders.
DVLA and DVSA target illegal suppliers
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency are also working with police to identify businesses suspected of supplying illegal number plates.
Number plates must comply with detailed legal requirements governing their materials, colours, markings, character sizes and spacing.
They must also be made by a registered number plate supplier, which is required to check documents proving both the customer's identity and entitlement to use the registration number.
Driving with incorrectly displayed plates can currently result in a fine of up to £1,000 and can cause a vehicle to fail its MOT.
Government considering tougher penalties
The latest enforcement push follows a Government consultation on changing penalties for motoring offences, including the use of illegal and ghost number plates.
The Road Safety Strategy published in January specifically committed ministers to addressing the growing problem of illegal plates and developing a new Roads Policing Innovation Programme.
Any further changes to penalties would require the Government to set out the final policy following consultation. The announcement on 5 September does not itself create a new £1,000-plus penalty or new criminal offence for motorists.
For now, the immediate change is operational: stronger national coordination, greater intelligence sharing, new detection technology and increased scrutiny of the supply chain.
Crackdown aimed at organised crime as well as fine-dodging
Ministers are presenting the initiative as both a road-safety measure and a crime-fighting tool.
Vehicles capable of hiding from number plate recognition systems are harder to trace when stolen or connected with serious offences, reducing the effectiveness of a technology routinely used by police to identify vehicles of interest.
The Government says bringing forces together nationally should make it harder for offenders to exploit differences in enforcement between areas.
The result is a significant expansion of the campaign against ghost, cloned and otherwise illegal plates — moving the issue from isolated police operations towards a coordinated national enforcement programme.