RAC warn millions of UK drivers over number plate fault
These plates have a reflective coating, which prevents them from being identified by speed cameras and roadside ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras.
Online sites are also flogging self-adhesive laminate covers that can be stuck to existing plates, rendering them invisible to enforcement cameras.
The British Number Plate Manufacturers Association, which represents companies producing the vast majority of plates in the UK, wants tougher regulation of the sector to crack down on illegal suppliers.
Trading Standards and the DVLA are calling for a crackdown on sales of illegal 'ghost plates' on cars. They are fake or altered number plates that can't be read by police cameras. They're becoming an increasing problem on UK roads with drivers, often linked to criminal gangs or… pic.twitter.com/Q6zI9phJLR
Its chairman warned that the products are 'enabling serious criminals and terrorists to move around the roads undetected'.
In addition to selling ghost plates, online retailers are brazenly offering transparent films and reflective sprays that obscure a plate's letter and number combination under infrared light.
Sprays are advertised by sellers on well-known online retailers for around £4.
Some are also selling plates with subtly altered characters to disrupt camera software's ability to recognise them accurately.
BNMA chairman Michael Flanagan said: "Far from being the tightly regulated industry it should be, number plates are increasingly being sold by unscrupulous below-the-radar suppliers using non-compliant, untraceable materials.
"They rarely ask for the documentation that the DVLA require.
"This is a criminal offence and enables serious criminals and terrorists to move around the roads undetected.
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"Motorists deserve to know they are buying a legal, compliant number plate from a legitimate supplier.
"Now is the time for the Government to tighten the regulations."
RAC head of policy Simon Williams, who will also attend the roundtable with MPs today, added: "Given the proliferation of number plate recognition cameras used for various types of enforcement, it simply isn't right that criminals can get away with these offences by easily purchasing illegal ghost plates.
"Together with the modern motoring menace that is cloned number plates, where blameless drivers have to prove their innocence for motoring offences they didn't commit, it's apparent these are serious and growing problems that need solutions."
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