More than 130 official suppliers of vehicle number plates in the UK are willing to sell cloned versions that could thwart police and avoid congestion charges, according to an investigation by government advisers.
The alleged abuse of the system is described by the academics as a risk to law enforcement, road safety and the country’s critical national infrastructure.
The expert group, which includes Dr Fraser Sampson, who was the government’s biometric surveillance camera commissioner until 2023, warns that the country is dependent on the “humble number plate”, but “anyone can become a DVLA-registered number plate scheme (RNPS) member on payment of £40.”
They write: “There is no vetting, no trading history requirement and no monitoring of members’ practices.
“To date we have found over 135 DVLA-registered RNPS members nationally who were prepared to make cloned plates … and there will undoubtedly be more. One West Midlands criminal had recently supplied over 7,000 plates to the criminal underworld.”
The findings from members of the Vehicle Identification Group, a centre of excellence at Cranfield University dedicated to advancing the science of automatic number plate recognition, are included in a submission to the Labour MP Sarah Coombes.
The West Bromwich MP is fronting a private member’s bill that it is said would lead to offending drivers being hit with a £1,000 fine, vehicle seizure or licence disqualification. Currently, the most common sanction for drivers with cloned plates is a £100 fine.
The experts claim that legal and legible vehicle registration plates are fundamental to a range of priorities including tax collection, emission targets, the suppression of organised crime and even the safe transport of nuclear materials.
“Given their importance, it would be reasonable to expect number plates to be governed by a comprehensive, consistent and coherent framework regulating their manufacture and supply,” they write. “Unfortunately, despite many public reports and an abundance of evidence as to its shortcomings, the framework for vehicle registration plates is wholly inadequate.
“It therefore remains our firm view that the current arrangements for the supply and regulation of number plates represent a significant enduring risk, not only to policing and road safety, but also to the critical infrastructure of the country.”
Dr Michael Rhead, who has advised government bodies on the effective use of surveillance technologies in policing, approached registered suppliers and found more than 135 that were willing to provide plates without proof of car ownership, it is said.
Sampson said he had already warned the government when he resigned as biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner that it was “staggeringly simple to thwart” the automated number plate recognition (ANPR) systems on which the country’s safety relied.
Suppliers of plates are required by law to ask for identification and proof of entitlement to a registration number at the time purchase, but Sampson said he had publicly and privately argued that there was insufficient enforcement.
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Sampson said: “I’m astonished that something so serious and well evidenced still hasn’t been actioned. Must we always wait for calamity to drive change?”
Other members of the expert group include Dr Rob Gurney, who has advised the DVLA and Border Force, and William Martin, a visiting professor of physics at the University of Hertfordshire who has helped government bodies.
Coombes said: “A hundred pounds is a pitiful deterrent if you’re caught with an illegal number plate like a ghost plate.
“Given that everything from low-level antisocial behaviour to organised crime is being fuelled by these number plates, using a ghost plate is not the victimless crime it’s made out to be.
“The law is outdated and we need the punishment to increase to at least £1,000 and six penalty points at the earliest opportunity to make our roads safe again.”
A DVLA spokesperson said: “DVLA is committed to ensuring all number plates are displayed correctly and legally. We work with the police and trading standards to take action against suppliers who do not comply with the law.
“A legitimate supplier will always ask to see ID and entitlement documents before selling a number plate. Where this doesn’t happen, members of the public can report this directly to their local trading standards.”