British Number Plates Explained

How very British. Take a simple process and make it as complicated as possible for no practical reason, then make it even more complicated. How many public servants are involved with this time wasting nonsense?

Very well explained. I love the UK system, as complicated as it is, as fascinating it is.

For comparison here in Germany (as in most EU countries) plates are re-issued after use. And they are re-issued often as every time a car changes owner or region it needs a new reg plate. This keeps the reg plates themselves simple, but leads to problems ever again. i.e. I twice had issues with insurance claims and a speeding ticked from the car that used my plate before. As well it is close to impossible to see age and history of a car.

For the UK plates something interesting (but very complicated) is forgotten. 0:38 “Northern Irish plates are different, so this is about Great British plates”. And later, the area codes pre 2001 seem random.

Well, when the first reg plates were issued, they were 2 letters and up to 4 numbers with the first 2 letters being the area code. And this went as simple as first issued was AA, then AB, AC, etc. Once an area reached 9999 registrations, a 2nd area code was given. This had an interesting advantage as a larger area had more codes than a smaller one, i.e. Lake District 3 codes, Coventry 7 codes, Reading and Essex both 12 codes. This means all areas go through the systems in roughly the same time.

Once all codes AA to YY (or indeed ZZ) were used up, the system needed to be extended and was changed to 3 letters, 3 numbers. But to not make it even more complicated they stopped issuing more area codes. That is why – as explained in the video – in the 3-letter-block the 1st letter is random while 2nd & 3rd are area code.

Since Lake District is very small in number of vehicles, I think they are a perfect example: Lake District had only 3 area codes, which are AO, HH & RM.

AO shows they were quite early with their first ever registered car, but when Reading had AN, BL, CF, DP etc, Lake District’s 2nd one was only HH. Once Lake District reached RM 9999, the next one was AAO 1 to AAO 999, then AHH, ARM, BAO etc.

But there is something else to obeye, some areas are so big that they thought maybe it was simpler to give them hints. So everything starting with an L is London, as well as most starting with M and Y. Also the X is interesting as they were spare plates should one region run out too early. Again starting with X. London had some codes outside the L*, M* & Y*, these basically could even be identifying regions of London with a lot of South-East starting with G as well… But basically once ALA to AYY was issued it carried on with BLA to BYY, CLA etc….

Not finished here, Wales was incorporated with England, but Scotland had a special identifier again, every code containing an S was for Scotland. See “containing” rather than “starting”. So LB is London but BL is Reading. But then BS is Inverness, SB is Glasgow, both Scotland. CS is Glasgow, SC is Edinburgh, you get the drift?

It maybe is weird that in the 3-letters the middle one is most important. But it would have been a nuisance without profit to even issue 3-digit area codes. So an easy guideline is: Most smaller places only have 12 or less letters, so it is easy to memorise them. But with very few exceptions: xIx & xxI = Ireland, xLx = London, xSx & xxS = Scotland, xXx = spare plates, xYx = London, xZx & xxZ = Ireland….

Now in the video: “Northern Ireland has a separate system” & “The letter I was not issued to not mistake it with a number.” Not 100% correct, yet super fascinating:

When the system started in 1903 Ireland was not split yet and part of the Kingdom. So Ireland as a whole originally had the same system and as with Scotland and the S, Ireland were issued all plates containing an I or a Z. AI, AZ, BI, BZ, IA, IB, ZA, ZB etc…

Of course at some point the Republic of Ireland was formed and they started their very own system. Northern Ireland in turn kept the area codes they were given, but they never took on the Letter of the Year but went 4-digit numbers instead. So yes, the Northern Irish system is different, but it does originate from the British system! So Belfast has 12 codes, same number as Essex or Reading, they all contain an I or a Z. Easier example is Antrim, which has 4 codes: DZ, IA, KZ & RZ. Many rally cars were registered there (for various reasons, the easiest one Sydney Meeke = Kris’ dad for a time prepared Manta 400s for GM UK), so groupB Nissan 240RS chassis 1 (of 200) = UIA 4275, Jimmy McRae’s BRC winning Manta 400 = WIA 5958, famous Prodrive BMW M3 = ADZ 9667…. you see there is a connection. Not easy to spot as Northern Ireland did not adopt the letter of year, but the area codes being the 2nd & 3rd letter of the 3-letter-block and not clashing with any (up to 2001) English, Welsh & Scottish area codes is absolutely no coincidence!

Complicated but a fascinating system, so I hope for who is interested in this system, this was entertaining additional info.

Pretty sure military vehicles (tanks and the like,not civilian vehicles used by the military) almost always have a black plate

😂 My old 1970 Porsche 911S had a flexible 'tape' plate on the sloping bonnet, great for reducing drag.

Excellent. When My USA friends visit, I do my best! Then it all goes Bananas when we come across a personal reg, e.g. "ROB 1N" on a new 2024 Porche! Aghhh!

Q plates are for things like kit cars, certain construction vehicles (dumpers for example). Basically anything that is a special.

I remember the excitement of looking for brand new cars on the 1st of August. Does anyone notice new cars now ?

I like how you can tell the age of the car from the plate (excluding private plates), most countries don't have that.

08:49 not quite true , to help catch up to the year 2001 so they could start on year one 1 think from v to y thy also had half year relices up to 2001

Only the UK can make a simple numberplate very complicated. Here we dropped "coded" numberplates in the 60's.
My first car in 1980: JK 46 986, and it means nothing.

Retailers of number plates must be registered with the DVLA, use their ID to order supplies, mark the plates with their identity, and keep records of purchasers' ID & and link to the registration being made up – usually a photocopy or scan of the V5/transfer slip.
Audits may be performed and failure to comply with the above may lead to the loss of the DVLA registration and the ability to make plates. I've been making plates for nearly 25 years now, and have never heard of anyone being audited, so the threat is essentially moot.

Could I use a black number plate on an imported car that a year of manufacture as 1 January 1980 on the V5 ?