CB 1 Number Plate High Offer For Sale
Reg Plates ArticleCB 1 Number Plate High Offer For Sale

A BUSINESSMAN is to make a £250,000 cash offer to buy the historic CB1 number plate of the mayor of Blackburn with Darwen's official car.
Multi-millionaire Charlie Barton said he plans to make a formal offer to borough chief executive Harry Catherall for the rare registration.
The council however has said the number plate is not for sale although it would consider 'serious and substantial offers'.
Previously in 2010 when the registration plate was valued at £200,000 the council said it would not sell.
Mr Barton said if he succeeds in buying the plate, which started on a Blackburn Council dustbin lorry in 1904, it could end up on Rolls-Royce.
The 30-year-old made an informal approach in March last year through Conservative councillor Mike Lee but his offer of £250,000 was then turned down.
As an alternative to his offer, Mr Barton said he was also prepared to arrange the filling of some of the '4,000 potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire' immortalised in the Beatles song ' Day in the Life'.
A council spokesman said the authority would consider an official request 'with an open mind'.
Cllr Andy Kay, borough resources boss, said: "The number plate is not for sale but if there was a serious and substantial offer, we would consider it.
"£250,000 is a drop in the ocean of our highways' budget let alone the overall one."
Mr Barton, who owns a caravan park and recycling businesses in Lancaster, said he was disappointed at the reaction to his first offer.
The married father-of-two said yesterday: "This number plate would be of considerable value to my family.
"I am now writing to Mr Catherall with a formal offer of £250,000 cash.
"My 69-year-old father, also called Charlie, already owns CB9 but CB1 would obviously be far better.
"We would put it on a Rolls-Royce or a Range Rover.
"There is no obvious significance to CB1 as a Blackburn with Darwen number plate and I would happily supply a suitable alternative featuring BB or BwD as a substitute on top of the money.
"Knowing of the The Beatles' '4,000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire', I did some research into the state of the roads in the borough.
"I am prepared to arrange for an asphalting firm I deal with to fill up that number of potholes to council standards as an alternative.
"This is a serious offer.
"My view is the plate is not helping anyone sitting on the mayor’s car.”
When the CB registration was allocated to Blackburn after number plates were introduced in 1904, the first 50 went to council vehicles.
CB1 was given to a dustbin lorry but in recent decades has been on the mayoral car including a BMW and the current black Audi A6.
So what are the top selling number plates in the UK? The DVLA has been selling private plates to UK motorists since 1989. During this time, there have been a number of records set, but most of the top 10 have been bought in the past 15 years. Here’s what currently makes the list:
- 25 0 – A Ferrari dealer bought this for £518k in 2014. It is now on a £10 million Ferrari 250 SWB.
- F 1 – A businessman, Afzal Khan, bought this for £440k in 2008 and put it on his McLaren-Mercedes SLR.
- S 1 – This was bought in 2008 for £404k by an anonymous buyer.
- 1 D – Businessman Nabil Bishara bought this plate in 2009 (before One Direction was formed, so it is not a reference to the band) for £352k.
- M 1 – Businessman Mike McCoomb bought this number plate in 2006 for £331k, apparently for his son, who was 10 at the time.
- VIP 1 – Chelsea owner and businessman Roman Abramovich bought this plate for £285k in 2006.
- 51 NGH – This number plate, which looks like the surname Singh, was sold in 2006 for £254k.
- 1 RH – Businessman Robert Haverson bought this in 2006 for £247k.
- K1 NGS – This reg plate, which looks like the word “kings”, was bought anonymously in 1993 for £231k.
- 1 0 – This very simple but striking number plate was bought anonymously in 2009 for £170k.
These are large amounts of money, but they are all small compared to the top-selling number plates found in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has the record for the most expensive number plate ever sold. That number plate was a simple “1”. It was bought in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for £7.25 million.
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