VRegs Vehicle Registrations

An issue regarding UK number plate cloning was raised in The Telegraph:

“I recently received a parking summons from a local authority and it is clear that my vehicle number plate has been cloned. My car was never at the location cited. I hope I have cleared up this matter with the authority concerned, but the culprit presumably remains free to park at will. Do you recommend any course of action in these circumstances? Could those drafting the Protection of Freedoms Bill not have considered the eventuality that victims of this scam could frequently be defending themselves in court while the perpetrator goes scot-free”

Read more on their website.

The world’s first registration plate system for vehicles was introduced in Holland in 1899, despite some people thinking it was France that first introduced it. The UK followed in 1903, with the first plate being issued in London as A1. Who would have known how valuable that plate would become at the time?

Celebrities! The earliest known celebrity plate was T8, owned by the now infamous Harry Tate (1873 to 1940), a famous music hall artist. The plate was eventually owned by Johnny Tate of the Tate and Lyle sugar company.

Jimmy Tarbuck owned/owns the registration plate COM 1C.

A Mancunian drank ten pints of lager before setting herself loose on a car damaging spree – and used a snapped of number plate as a weapon to cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage to three cars.

Debbie Harrison of Chatham Grove, Withington caused the damage to two BMWs and an MG – pulling on wing mirrors and windscreen wipers.

Ms Harrison was given 12 months supervision after expressing genuine remorse.

Registration plates for German cars are available on autokenn.com – check it out.

On the vregs site we can see the most popular registrations that have been searched for over the past calendar month, in descending order with the region of registration listed:

1. K – no region
2. S – Scotland
3. L – London
4. Y – Yorkshire
5. M – Manchester & Merseyside
6. A – Anglia
7. B – Birmingham
8. P – Preston
9. W – Westcountry
10. C – Cymru (Wales)

Bottom of the list was O (for Oxford region) if you discount X (Temporary Export Plates).

Excellent documentary on BBC4 covering the rise and fall of Ford at the Dagenham plant in East London.

Watch out for the Capris – every boy’s dream.

Ford’s Dagenham Dream

Britain has successfully exported the concept of the roundabout to the USA. In Carmel, Indianapolis they are springing up all over town, replacing the numerous sets of traffic lights in existence.

According to insurance industry data, they reduce traffic accidents by 40% and reduce fatalities by 90%. There are also savings in fuel, maintenance costs and roundabouts can look far more aesthetic than a traffic light system.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13863498

All of our old style suffix (ABC 123 D), old style prefix (A 123 BCD) and old style without year letters (ABC 123) registration marks have now been split off and sent off for good behaviour to regarchive.com for posterity.

I decided to move them as they are a dwindling kind, and will better serve the classic/older car community with their new home. As always, if you have any photos of your classic/cherished vehicle then feel free to send them in, where they’ll find a good home.

A Sunderland man has been found guilty of theft for stealing number plates from parked cars and subsequently using them to cover up his own legitimate number plates. Leslie Taylor would then drive to a petrol station, fill his tank and drive away without paying. ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) systems would be looking for the wrong vehicle.

Mr Taylor admitted hefts of fuel of around £500 when arrested by police. He told the police he was on benefits and needed the fuel to make regular trips to visit his son in Gateshead. A round trip of about 22 miles meant that Mr Taylor could have made around 25 trips to see his son.

He was sentenced to 6 months in prison, suspended for eighteen months.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011qhc0/Fake_Britain_Series_2_Episode_12/

Dominic Littlewood covers a police and trading standards raid on an alleged unauthorised plate printing company.