18 Series Number Plates Banned By The DVLA

Swear words, sex acts and racist slurs all feature on the X-rated list.

These include **18 OOB, BL18 JOB, TA18 BAN, VA18 NAS and BU18 SHT.

Any plates that feature SEX, BUM or ASS at the end are automatically excluded every year.

Other set four letter and five letter combos are also banned like TO** SER, SL** UTS and BO** MBS.

The DVLA has banned hundreds of number plates over the years because they could cause "offence". The Agency says that a 6 can look like a "G" or an "S" while a 7 can be read as a "T" or an "L". And some say if you look really hard the number 67 can look like the letter "R".Here's the outlawed DVLA combinations:
Four-letter combinations: *B** UMS, *G** ODS and *R** APE
Five-letter combinations: AB** USE, AN** GER and BO** SOM
2004 vehicle registrations: A**4 RSE, BO04 ZZY and BL04 JOB
2011 vehicle registrations: BO11 OC*, DR11 GG* and PO11 CE*

Each year brings with it a fresh chance to spell out rude messages when plates change in March and September.

The DVLA meets twice a year ahead of these dates to rule out registrations deemed offensive, embarrassing or poor taste.

Also banned this year were BR18 ERY, BO18 CKS, NN18 GER, RO18 BER and PU18 BES.

Occasionally a few slip through the net like JH11 HAD - which was spotted in South Wales last June - before being removed from the roads.

Registration experts also take prized plates out of circulation that might net a fortune at auction.

Last year the DVLA raked in £111million from personalised plates with buyers clambering for names and initials - some paying thousands each.

A DVLA spokesperson said: "The vast majority of registration numbers are made available but the Agency holds back any combinations that may cause offence, embarrassment or are in poor taste.

"Many people enjoy displaying a personalised registration number and there are over 50million registrations available on our website with almost endless possibilities of combinations to suit a person’s taste, interests and budget with prices starting at just £250."

Most number plates don't spell out anything but even these do have a hidden meaning.

They can tell you where the car was first registered and the year pf the car.

In fact registration plates are probably more important than you think - with not displaying a plate properly landing drivers with a £1,000 fine.


New DVLA 2018 number plates arrive Today - Here’s everything you need to know
NEW DVLA number plates 2018 will arrive today. Here is a quick guide explaining what the characters and numbers mean and why they are being introduced.


What do UK number plates prefixes mean?

The new DVLA 2018 number plates will be arriving today.

From March 1st the update will go into circulation and replace the ’67’ plates and represent the newest vehicles currently on the road.

Thousands of drivers are expected to snap up a new number plate and car this week but new research has revealed that two thirds of drivers can’t read them.

Research from carwow has found that just one in three (38 per cent) drivers understand what the first two letters on a licence plate represents.

These characters refer to the vehicle owner’s original place of register.

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is offering 80 captivating licensing plates bearing 2, 3, 4 and 5 digits of Codes I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T and W in its forthcoming 98th open auction. The auction will be held at Park Hyatt Hotel, near Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, on Saturday, March 10 starting at 4.30pm.

The registration of bidders will open on Sunday,March 4. The offering includes an array of mesmerising numbers such as W 22, T 400, T 6666, and T 88888.

Sultan Al Marzooqi, Director of Vehicles licensing at RTA's Licensing Agency, said, "Registration for the auction can be made on the same day of the auction (March 10) from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Bidders will be treated to a complimentary draw on the plate J 468.

"Participation in the auction requires the potential bidder to have a traffic file in Dubai. A cheque amounting to Dh25,000 has to be deposited but can be redeemed in case no successful bid is made. An amount of Dh120 has to be paid as subscription fees. Potential bidders can also pay deposits by credit cards or submit the cheque number through RTA website (www.rta.ae), provided the cheque will be deposited to the counter staff on the auction day together with the subscription fees in cash.

For about 90 seconds, around six Islanders battled to outbid each other for the registration J111.

When offers reached £45,000, only two people were left vying for the lot before the price climbed by £9,000.

The number plate, which was assigned to a Vespa scooter of ‘insignificant value’, was initially expected to fetch between £30,000 to £35,000. An unidentified woman eventually placed the winning bid. Other bidders included a man phoning in from the French Alps.

The plate was originally owned by the uncle of St Ouen resident Peter Judge when the registration was affixed to an Allard – a car.

Photos provided by Mr Judge show the vehicle, owned by his uncle Bob Le Breton, pictured above with his friends in 1948 on the beach at the eastern end of St Brelade’s Bay.

Mr Judge said: ‘My grandfather bought the car for him[Bob]. He was very spoilt and it would have been like owning a Ferrari back then.

‘It had an aluminium body and probably had a big Ford V8 engine, so it was very fast.

‘I think the plate came with the car.’

Mr Judge added that his uncle, who died around five years ago, was a jeweller in the Central Market and sold the plate with the car after the engine failed.

Meanwhile, James Herbert, auctioneer at Simon Drieu and Co Auctioneers and Valuers, said that the plate had attracted some very strong bids.

‘It is the most I have ever seen a three-digit plate go for. I think it is because it is a special number,’ he said.

‘We probably had about half a dozen serious bidders.

‘A lady bought it, but I do not know any more than that.’

The winning bid for J111 was still some way off beating the record for the most expensive registration plate sold in Jersey.

In July 2017, J27 sold for £73,000 to an unknown buyer.

And in 2015, someone in Guernsey paid £240,000 for the registration 007.