National security is at serious risk as gangs and terrorists are feared to be travelling around Britain undetected using cloned number plates similar to those used by five youths who died in the A66 horror crash that left two police officers dead. Experts say as many as one in 15 cars are believed to be sporting non-compliant ‘ghost’ and ‘stealth’ plates, enabling them to travel invisibly on the UK’s road networks.
That means a “vehicle-borne terror attack” could easily be carried out on a prominent UK landmark or major event, according to a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety (APPGTS), which launched its findings following a cross-party inquiry into vehicle registration plates.
ANPR undermined by weak regulation
The report warns that the UK’s advanced Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, which captures around 90 million reads each day from 18,000 cameras, is being critically undermined by weak regulation of number plate production and a lack of enforcement.
Plates are being sold openly online by unregulated suppliers, enabling drivers to avoid paying road charges, tolls, congestion fees and fines. But the problem extends far beyond routine traffic offences, with criminal gangs using ANPR-evasive plates to facilitate activities including rogue trading, drug dealing and organised crime such as human trafficking and people smuggling.
Weaknesses in the manufacturing ecosystem
National Trading Standards warn that ghost plates pose a serious threat to counter-terrorism operations. Vehicles with stealth plates can bypass surveillance systems around critical infrastructure such as airports, government buildings, and transport hubs, creating vulnerabilities that could be exploited by terrorist groups planning “vehicle-borne attacks”.
There are currently more than 34,000 number plate suppliers operating with no background checks and minimal oversight. Some have criminal records yet are allowed to continue trading. 34,455 suppliers are registered with the DVLA to produce UK number plates, with many operating from private homes or small workshops. Some suppliers handling customers’ ID documents were found to have serious criminal convictions, including for violent offences and fraud.
Taxi drivers and innocent motorists affected
Innocent motorists are increasingly being targeted by criminals who clone their number plates. Many have found themselves accused of offences they did not commit, facing fines, debt collection, and in some cases, police investigation. The report highlights evidence that taxi drivers are tampering with plates en-masse to avoid drop-off and road charges, raising serious risks for women and girls’ safety, as well as other vulnerable passengers.
In London, of 1,000 vehicle checks carried out by Transport for London (TfL) using ‘ghost’ plate-defeating cameras, 41% of licensed taxis were found to have non-compliant plates. Since acquiring more of these cameras in July 2023, TfL has issued more than 4,200 fines. Subsequent deployments, checking around 800 vehicles, showed a reduced rate of 38% ghost or stealth plates, suggesting enforcement had an impact.
Calls for reform
The report concludes that the current registration plate system represents a “gaping hole” in the UK’s security and policing infrastructure, one that can be exploited using nothing more sophisticated than cellophane, leaves or a marker pen. It advocates for wholesale revision of the registration plate system from production to supply, usage and management, with standardised design and security features to bring the UK up to international standards. 3D and 4D plates must be banned, and the number of licenced sellers needs to be dramatically reduced through annual fees, regular audits and removal of non-compliant sellers.
Sarah Coombes, MP for West Bromwich, said: “The whole system is failing. It’s totally wrong that people can commit terrible crimes and then set themselves up as number plate sellers with no questions asked. Those selling these illegal plates have gone under the radar for too long.”
RAC Head of Policy Simon Williams said: “Urgent action must be taken to stop the widespread abuse of number plates, which has serious and far-reaching consequences for our society from road safety to national security. Ghost and cloned plates have no place on our roads as no one should be able to drive a vehicle that’s invisible to enforcement cameras or untraceable by the police. It’s vital we introduce new, higher security standards for number plates and those who produce them.”
