Vehicle registration plates (commonly referred to as "number plates" in British English) are the alphanumeric plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle, and have existed in the United Kingdom since 1904. It is compulsory for motor vehicles used on public roads to display vehicle registration plates, with the exception of vehicles of the reigning monarch used on official business.
The Motor Car Act 1903, which came into force on 1 January 1904, required all motor vehicles to be entered on an official vehicle register, and to carry alphanumeric plates. The Act was passed in order that vehicles could be easily traced in the event of an accident, contravention of the law or any other incident. Vehicle registration alphanumeric plates in the UK are rectangular or square in shape, with the exact permitted dimensions of the plate and its lettering set down in law. Front plates are white, rear plates are yellow.
Within the UK itself, there are two systems: one for Great Britain, whose current format dates from 2001, and another for Northern Ireland, which is similar to the original 1904 system. Both systems are administered by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Swansea. Until July 2014, Northern Ireland's system was administered by the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) in Coleraine, which had the same status as the DVLA. Other schemes relating to the UK are also listed below. The international vehicle registration code for the United Kingdom is UK. Prior to 28 September 2021, it was GB. The specification of plates incorporating the UK code was created by the British Number Plate Manufacturers Association, and is seen as the default design by the Department for Transport.
Standard requirements
Number plates must be displayed in accordance with the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001.
Number plates must be made of reflex-reflecting material, white at the front and yellow at the rear, with black characters. This was first required on all vehicles manufactured after 1 January 1973, having been optional before then. Subsequently, the requirement was modified by the Finance Act 2014, to allow any vehicles registered within the "historic vehicles" tax class to use the older style pre-1973 black number plates. This rule applied on a 40-year exemption basis, and until 2021 rolled forward automatically each year on 1 April to include vehicles manufactured before the first of January forty years prior. A change was introduced on 1 January 2021 that will permit only vehicles dating prior to 1 January 1980 to use the old style pre-1973 black and silver number plates.
The post-1973 type of reflecting plate were permitted as an option from 1968: many older vehicles may therefore carry the white/yellow reflective plates and, where they were first registered during or after 1968, they may have carried such plates since new. Many buses delivered to London Transport between 1973 and the mid-1980s continued to bear white-on-black plates. This was also true of some other bus operators, though only on the rear end in most instances; Reading Transport was one other operator which persisted with black front plates into the 1980s.
Characters on number plates purchased from 1 September 2001 do not use a specific named typeface, but must use what is known as the "prescribed font" within legislation set out in The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001. One such example of a typeface adhering to this prescribed font is Mandatory, a variation of the frequently used Charles Wright typeface. However, the wording in the legislation designates that slight variations in typeface are legal providing they are "substantially similar" to the prescribed font.
Characters must also conform to set specifications as to width, height, stroke, spacing and margins. The physical characteristics of the number plates are set out in British Standard BS AU 145e (formerly BS AU 145d until 31 August 2021), which specifies visibility, strength, and reflectivity.
Number plates with smaller characters meeting standards for motorcycles are only permitted on imported vehicles, and then only if they do not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval and their construction/design cannot accommodate standard-size number plates; for example, vehicles made for the US or Japanese market may only have a area to affix a number plate, in which a standard one-line plate is too long (460 mm) to fit, while a two-line plate is too tall (199 mm).
The industry-standard-size front number plate is . Rear plates are either the same size, or or . There is no specified legal size other than an absolute minimum margin of 11 mm producing a minimum height of 101 mm (one-line) and 199 mm (two-line) on cars, and 86 mm for one-line import vehicles and 164 mm for a two-line motorcycle or import vehicles, with the overall length being based on the registration number itself. The material of UK number plates must either comply with British Standard BS AU 145e, which states that BSI number plates must be marked on the plate with the BSI logo and the name and postcode of the manufacturer and the supplier of the plates; or with
Older British plates had white, grey or silver characters on a black background. This style of plate was phased out in 1972 and, until 2012, legal to be carried only on vehicles first registered before 1 January 1973. A vehicle which was first registered on or after 1 January 1973 shall be treated as if it was first registered before that date if it was constructed before 1 January 1973.As specified in http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/made PART IV MISCELLANEOUS However, the Finance Bill 2014 and subsequent Finance Acts extended the Historic Vehicle class cut-off year from 1973 to 1974 and subsequently, a rolling forty years. This had the effect of linking eligibility to display old-style plates with "Tax Exempt" vehicle status, provided that an application had been made to the DVLA to have the vehicle included in the historic vehicle class.What's the story with black and silver number plates?, DVLA, 17 November 2015 However, this exemption was rescinded in 2021, with a new qualifying date for vehicles constructed before 1 January 1980 registered in the historic vehicle class.Find out about vehicle registration numbers and number plates, DVLA, 22 January 2021
Motorcycles
Before August 1975, motorcycles had to display a front plate, colloquially known as the "pedestrian slicer", which was usually, but not always, a double-sided plate on top of the front mudguard, curved to follow the contour of the wheel and visible from the sides. Motorcycles registered after 1 September 2001 may only display a rear number plate, while motorcycles registered before that date can display a number plate at the front if desired.
Great Britain
Current system
Characters The current system for Great Britain was introduced on 1 September 2001. Each registration index consists of seven characters with a defined format.
From left to right, the characters consist of:
A local memory tag, or area code, consisting of two letters which together indicate the local registration office. By December 2013, all local offices had been closed, but the letters still represent a region. The letters I, Q and Z are not used as local office identifiers, though O is used for Oxford; Z can be used only as a random letter. The first of these two letters is a mnemonic, standing for the name of the broad area where the registration office was located. This is intended to make the registration more memorable than an arbitrary code. For example, A is used as the first character in all registrations issued by the three offices located in the vicinity of East Anglia; A two-digit age identifier, which changes twice a year, on 1 March and 1 September. The code is either the last two digits of the year itself, if issued between March and August (e.g. "18" for registrations issued between 1 March and 31 August 2018), or else has fifty added to that value if issued between September and February the following year, (e.g. "68" for registrations issued between 1 September 2018 and 28 February 2019); A three-letter sequence which uniquely distinguishes each of the vehicles displaying the same initial four-character area and age sequence. The letters I and Q are excluded from the three-letter sequence, as are combinations that may appear offensive (including those in foreign languages). Due to batch allocation of new registration marks to dealers, it is common for cars with "neighbouring" letter sequences to be of the same manufacturer.
This scheme has three particular advantages:- A buyer of a second-hand vehicle can in theory determine the year of first registration of the vehicle without having to look it up. However, a vehicle is permitted to display a number plate where the age identifier is older (but not newer) than the vehicle. The wide awareness of how the "age identifier" works has led to it being used in advertising by used car showrooms instead of simply stating a year. In the case of a police investigation of an accident or vehicle-related crime, witnesses usually remember the initial area code letters – it is then quite simple to narrow down suspect vehicles to a much smaller number by checking the authority's database without having to know the full number. The scheme should have sufficient numbers to run until 28 February 2051, assuming there are enough three-letter random sequences for every combination of area code and age identifier.
Local memory tags
First letterOfficial local mnemonicDVLA OfficeSecond letter (DVLA Office identifier) A Anglia Peterborough A B C D E F G J K M N Reserved for select issue H L Norwich O P R S T U Ipswich V W X Y B Birmingham Birmingham A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Reserved for select issue Y CCymru (Wales) Cardiff A B C D E F G H J K L M N O Swansea P R S T U V Bangor W X Y D Deeside to Shrewsbury Chester A B C D E F G H J K Shrewsbury L M N O P S T U V W X Y Reserved for select issue R E Essex Chelmsford A B C E F G J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Reserved for select issue D H F Forest and Fens Nottingham A B C D E F G H J K L M N P Only issued with approval O U Lincoln R S T V W X Y G Garden of England Maidstone A B C D E F G H J K L M N Reserved for select issue O Brighton P R S T U V W X Y H Hampshire and Dorset Bournemouth A B C D E F G H J Portsmouth K L M N P R S T U V X Y Reserved for select issue O Reserved for the Isle of Wight (issued in Portsmouth) W K – Borehamwood (formerly Luton) A B C D E F G H J K L Northampton M N O P R S T U V W X Y L London Wimbledon A B C D E F G H J Borehamwood (formerly Stanmore) K L M N O P R S T Sidcup U V W X Y M Manchester and Merseyside Manchester A B C D E F G H J K L M P T U V W X Reserved for the Isle of Man (not issued) N Reserved for select issue O R S Y N North Newcastle A B C D E G H J K L M N O Stockton P R S T U V W X Y Issued with approval F O Oxford Oxford A B C D E F G H J L M O P T U V W X Y Reserved for select issue K N R S P Preston Preston A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T Carlisle U V W X Y R Reading Reading A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T V W X Y Reserved for select issue U S Scotland Glasgow A B C D E F G H J Edinburgh K L M N O Dundee P R S T Reserved for select issue U Aberdeen V W Inverness X Y V Severn Valley Worcester A B C E F G H J K L M N O P R S T U V X Y Reserved for select issue D W WWest of England Exeter A B D E F G H J Reserved for select issue C Truro K L Bristol M N O P R S T U V W X Y X Personal export Reserved for select issue G H J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Y Yorkshire Leeds A B C D E F G H J K L Sheffield M N O P R S T U V Beverley W X Y