Car registration system ‘failing’ as criminals use ghost and cloned plates

Widespread misuse of vehicle number plates is putting road users at risk and threatens national security, according to a new report.

As many as one in 15 vehicles may carry plates designed to evade detection by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, researchers found.

Some are known as ghost plates, featuring a reflective coating that prevents them being read by cameras.

Another technique used by criminals is plate cloning, which involves illegally copying another vehicle’s registration.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety (APPGTS), which produced the report, said avoiding ANPR cameras sometimes requires “nothing more sophisticated than cellophane, leaves or a marker pen.”

It explained that abusing the number plate system can facilitate a range of offences, from dodging road charges and fines, to drug dealing and organised crime.

The APPGTS recommended that the number of licensed sellers of number plates should be “significantly” reduced from the current level of 34,455 by introducing annual fees and higher standards.

Many sellers were found to operate from private homes or small workshops, with no background checks.

Some of those handling customers’ identity documents were found to have criminal convictions for violence and fraud, the investigation revealed.

The report also called for the design of plates to be standardised, which would include banning 3D and 4D versions.

Sarah Coombes, APPGTS member and Labour MP for West Bromwich, said: “This explosive report lays bare the threat posed by ghost and cloned plates.

“It also makes clear how the whole system is failing.

“It’s totally wrong that people can commit terrible crimes and then set themselves up as number plate sellers with no questions asked.

“Those selling these illegal plates have gone under the radar for too long – but now they’ve been rumbled.

“I hope the Government cracks down on them immediately.”

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “It’s clear from this report that urgent action must be taken to stop the widespread abuse of number plates, which has serious and far-reaching consequences for our society from road safety to national security.

“Ghost and cloned plates have no place on our roads as no one should be able to drive a vehicle that’s invisible to enforcement cameras or untraceable by the police.

“It’s vital we introduce new, higher security standards for number plates and those who produce them.”

The British Number Plate Manufacturers Association, which represents companies producing the vast majority of plates in the UK, said it “fully supports the recommendations of the APPG.”

A spokesperson for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) said: “There are strict laws in place which demand number plate suppliers are properly registered with DVLA, and robust identification standards for buyers.

“DVLA works with police and Trading Standards to enforce these strict rules and anyone caught driving with illegal number plates can face up to two years in prison.

“On top of this, there is a review on the current standards on number plates which aim to ban production of plates that are specifically designed to evade Automatic Number Plate recognition cameras.”