New police team to crack down on ‘ghost’ number plates

The National Roads Policing Coordination Centre (NRPCC) will bring together police forces from across England to share intelligence, technology and data in a bid to target offenders more effectively.

The initiative will include trials of new technology, including specialised goggles designed to detect number plates that have been deliberately made unreadable to cameras.

Illegal plates include cloned registrations, ‘ghost plates’ covered with transparent film to defeat automatic number plate recognition cameras, and vehicles being driven without plates.

The Government says such plates are used to evade speeding, parking and clean air zone penalties but are also frequently linked to organised crime, including the movement of illegal goods.

Vehicles which cannot be identified by number plate recognition systems are harder for police to trace when they have been stolen or are connected to serious offences.

Roads Minister Justin Madders said the new approach would send a signal to people using illegal plates that “their time is up”.

Policing and Crime Minister Sarah Jones said illegal number plates were “not a victimless offence”, adding that they were used by criminals to avoid detection and move illegal goods.

The Department for Transport is funding the NRPCC as part of the Government’s Road Safety Strategy, which is the first such strategy for more than a decade.

The DVSA and DVLA are also working with police to identify illegal plates and investigate businesses involved in their manufacture and supply.