Numberplate theft on rise as crooks clone and dodge fines

In just 18 seconds during one evening in April this year, another car became a statistic in the UK’s growing epidemic of numberplate theft.

As our black and white stills, taken from a security camera near the vehicle owner’s house in Farnborough, show, the thief knows precisely which car to target and quickly unscrews the plate before melting into the shadows.

Figures obtained from police forces by Direct Line reveal that 53,000 numberplates were stolen from vehicles in 2021. Because numberplate theft is not generally reported, statistics for other years are difficult to obtain.

However, figures on the cloning of numberplates – the practice of disguising a car’s true identity by fitting it with plates stolen from a similar model or made illegally, often to avoid ANPR camera detection or congestion zone charges – are easier to obtain because victims appeal the penalty notices that result.

For example, last month, Transport for London (TfL) revealed that it had cancelled 641 penalty charge notices generated between October 2020 and April 2021 by owners of cars whose numberplates had been stolen or copied and fitted to similar-looking vehicles.

However, in the same period one year later, and following the expansion of London’s ULEZ scheme, it cancelled 4700 penalty charge notices. Meanwhile, the RAC says that in March 2020 across the country, 1105 motorists contacted the DVLA to report their vehicle had been wrongly linked to offences, compared with 656 in April 2019. 

To limit the possibility of cloning, numberplates can be produced and sold only by suppliers registered with the DVLA. Crucially, they must check an application for a new numberplate is lawful. Recently, however, a reporter for a national newspaper was able to source six numberplates without their vehicle ownership details being checked.