The Department for Transport has announced government funding for a National Roads Policing Coordination Centre intended to strengthen enforcement against illegal number plates and organised crime using England’s road network.
Announced on 5 September, the centre will bring police forces in England together to share intelligence, improve collaboration and make better use of data, according to the DfT.
Its work will include a focus on plates altered to avoid camera detection. The government said technology trials are planned, including goggles designed to identify registrations that have been changed or obscured.
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The announcement highlights cloned plates, so-called ghost plates using transparent film, and missing plates as examples of illegal or non-compliant registrations. The DfT said obscured or altered plates can make it harder for officers to identify stolen vehicles or vehicles linked to serious crime.
Illegal plates can also be used to evade speeding, parking and clean-air-zone penalties, the department said. Drivers using an incorrectly displayed number plate can face a fine of up to £1,000.
DVSA and DVLA are working with police on identifying illegal plates, conducting roadside operations and investigating businesses suspected of unlawfully supplying number plates.
The initiative forms part of the government’s Road Safety Strategy. The DfT said that strategy has consulted on stronger penalties, improved plate standards and further enforcement, but did not announce any immediate change to the current maximum fine.
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