United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland


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British vehicle registration plates (‘number plates’) usually indicate both the vehicle's place of origin and age. Vehicles are not re-registered when the owner moves about the country, so the registration town is where it was sold when new. Plates can be swapped between vehicles, so the age guide is not completely reliable, but it is illegal to use a plate that is ‘newer’ than the vehicle.

A definitive exposition of UK vehicle registration plates can be found in the book A History of Motor Vehicle Registration in the United Kingdom [1999/2001] by L H Newall, the revised edition of which has now sold out, too.

Further information on British registration plates, including the history of their issue, and their use as personalised plates, can be found at Number Plates Club.

Plates with six digits split by an X or D (eg, 123 X 456) belong to foreign diplomats based in the UK.

If you want to try communicating with the owner of a particular vehicle, or want an email address based on your vehicle's registration, look at the MotorMail website.

Place of Origin

Since 2001 September, there has been a new system, consisting of two letters, two digits and three letters: the first group gives the place of origin (some of the ones marked ‘unused’ are available as ‘Select’ marks), and the second group gives the age.

Under the previous system, the registration plate usually contains a group of two or three letters (if three, ignore the first, and use the second & third); very old ones use only one letter; these indicate the place of first registration.  Some of the ones marked ‘unused’, and some special combinations, e.g. N 1 GEL, were issued centrally as vanity plates by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency).  Originally the letter group was placed first, followed by the number group, but from 1952, this order began to be reversed.  From 1904 to 1974 they were issued by County Councils and County Borough Councils, and after 1974 by the Department of Transport's Vehicle Registration Offices, which are listed below:

Age

Since 2001 September, there has been a new system, consisting of two letters, two digits and three letters: the first group gives the place of origin, and the second group gives the age:

Under the previous system, the registration plate usually contains one letter at the start or the end; this indicates the date of first registration:

There are also 3-digit Local Vehicle Licensing Office codes, which can be seen as the fifth, sixth & seventh digits of those new car tax discs that have a twelve-digit number printed at the bottom: