New camera technology being tested on UK motorways can detect illegal 'ghost plates', as the Department for Transport (DfT) consults on plans to make the offence subject to instant penalty points and vehicle impounding.
How the cameras work
The BBC's Panorama programme reported the camera system is undergoing trials on motorways in south-east England. The plates are modified to prevent their information being captured by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems, which enforce speed restrictions and low emission zones and track criminal activity.
According to DfT plans, police would receive immediate authority to impound vehicles fitted with stealth plates, aligning the violation with sanctions for driving without insurance. Motorists also risk up to six penalty points, which would result in automatic disqualification for recently qualified drivers.
Scale of the problem
The initiatives follow concern among police leadership and national security authorities about the widespread use of highly reflective treatments, modified lettering, and duplicated registrations. These alterations are invisible to human observation but make plates illegible to infra-red speed cameras and ANPR technology, and are available online for as little as £30.
Figures gathered by transport organisations indicate as many as one in 15 vehicles on Britain's roads may now be fitted with plates that cannot be read by ANPR systems. During a focused operation in London, enforcement officers found that 40 per cent of taxi and private hire vehicles stopped had illegal plate alterations designed to deceive cameras.
Consultation and enforcement
The consultation document stated: "It's harder for police to identify who is using a vehicle because some offenders go to great lengths to hide who owns it or who was driving – this makes it harder for the police to keep the public safe and pursue offenders."
MAV Systems, a leading supplier of ANPR technology, has been trialling camera equipment designed to detect ghost plates. At a testing location near the Dartford Crossing, the system has logged an average exceeding 1,000 ghost plates daily across several months. Two additional locations have been operational for nearly two years: near the M25, detections have climbed from 1,000 per day to approaching 2,000 daily, while near the Eurotunnel at Folkestone, the technology identifies more than 400 each day.
Political response
Sarah Coombes, the Labour MP for West Bromwich, praised the consultation. "We must close this dangerous loophole," she said. "Those who deliberately alter their number plates to evade the law are making a mockery of road safety and placing law-abiding citizens at risk."
Currently, motorists caught using ghost plates face a £100 fine with no penalty points or driving ban. Ms Coombes is pushing for harsher punishments, including a £1,000 fine, six penalty points, and potential vehicle seizure. She said: "The scale of the use of ghost plates is not yet widely known, although we do know there are major issues with cloned plates and wider forms of dodgy plates. One study found that as many as one in 15 drivers may already be using anti-ANPR technology, but among some groups it could be even higher. One police exercise conducted in London examined more than 1,000 taxi and private hire vehicles, and found that 40% of those vehicles had ghost plates."
Ministers warn the proliferation of stealth plates is enabling dangerous drivers to jump red lights and flout speed limits without consequence. Cloned and altered plates are also routinely exploited by organised crime networks and drug-trafficking gangs to travel across the country without being traced. The DfT is seeking views on making the offence endorsable with penalty points, and on giving police authority to confiscate vehicles immediately. Panorama airs on BBC One (BBC Two in Northern Ireland) at 8pm on Monday 28 September.
