Clean Number Plates Save Money

Cars are inveitably going to get dirty and dusty while on the roads but if cars aren't kept clean drivers can face a hefty fine.

If this dirt or grime builds up so much on the car’s number plate, to the point where it becomes unreadable, you are committing a driving offence.

The Government clarifies the legal position as follows: "Number plates (also known as licence plates) should show your vehicle registration number correctly.

“You can't rearrange letters or numbers, or alter them so that they're hard to read."

The fine for driving a car with an unreadable number plate is up to £1,000.

In addition, it is enough of an offence for a car to fail its MOT.

A DVLA spokesman explained the rules in a statement to the Burton Mail: "There is a specific offence under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 of obscuring or allowing a registration mark to be not easily distinguishable.

Motorcycles and motor tricycles registered on or after 1 September 2001 must only display a number plate at the rear of the vehicle.

If you ride a motorbike or motor tricycle registered before 1 September 2001 you can also display a number plate at the front, but you don’t have to.

Motorcycle and motor tricycle number plate numbers should be on 2 lines.

Your trailer must display the same number plate as the car you’re towing it with.

If you’re towing more than one trailer, the number plate must be fixed to the trailer at the back.

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.

number plates