A Message from Durham Police and Crime Commissioner
When most people think about road safety, they think about speeding, drink or drug driving, seatbelts, or mobile phones. Few will have heard of the term ‘ghost plates’. Yet these illegal number plates are rapidly becoming one of the most concerning threats on our roads.
Ghost number plates as so called because they are deliberately altered so they cannot be read by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. Motorists seeking to evade fines or prosecution use reflective films, sprays, or illegal raised lettering to make their vehicles effectively invisible to one of policing’s most valuable and effective crime-fighting tools.
Alongside cloned number plates, where criminals copy the identity of an innocent motorist’s vehicle, ghost plates are increasingly enabling offenders to evade detection while leaving their law-abiding victims to deal with fines, penalties, and the stress of proving their innocence.
Illegal number plates are increasingly linked to organised crime, drug trafficking, vehicle crime, people smuggling, rogue trading and other serious offences. Criminals know that if they can hide their identity, they can move more freely and reduce the chances of being caught. Every unreadable plate weakens the effectiveness of ANPR technology that police forces rely upon every day to identify offenders, locate stolen vehicles, and protect our communities.
The current registration plate system has failed to keep pace with technology. Today there are thousands of registered suppliers, limited oversight, and insufficient safeguards to stop rogue businesses supplying illegal plates.
That is why as joint national lead for Road Safety I have urged Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales to unite and back stronger legislation and urge their local MPs to support reforms that include tougher penalties, penalty points, criminal record checks for suppliers, stronger DVLA enforcement powers, mandatory compliance checks, and better education for motorists.
Road safety is about far more than reducing deaths and serious injuries on our roads. It is about creating an environment where offenders cannot exploit loopholes, where victims are protected and where police have all the tools and powers, they need to keep people and communities safe.
As Police and Crime Commissioners, we have made that commitment nationally. Now we need Parliament to match that ambition.
Closing these loopholes will strengthen road safety, protect innocent motorists, and deny organised criminals one more way of evading the law.
You can play a part too. If you suspect a vehicle is displaying an illegal or cloned number plate, or you know of a business manufacturing or supplying illegal plates, please report it. Contact Durham Constabulary on 101 or via the Force’s online reporting service. If you would prefer to remain completely anonymous, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or report online.
Your information could help us disrupt serious and organised crime, protect innocent motorists, prevent future offences, and make our communities safer, stronger, and more resilient.
