Ironic that when you go to a DVLA sponsored number plate auction they start off proceedings by stating how the digits must not be illegally spaced etc or the use of the plate can be withdrawn (without a refund). Then they proceed to auction off plates that are clearly only worth the

 

It wouldn't be re-auctioned ..... because AFAIK they have never taken one back !

 

Cheers for the heads up. I'll let my chavy mates know

Have to agree about the dodgy fonts. Never been a fan of that, but spacing and font size (so long as it's not too small) shouldn't really be a problem.

Typical that it's Thames Valley Police who've got nothing better to do than pick on motorists. As Bibbs said, Reading has just been voted the worst plac ein Britain for families. No wonder when our useless Police can't be bothered tackling real crime.

 

As long as the real letters are obvious wgf?

Sometimes it actually makes the plates easier to remember such as Lloyds.

If they are italic or are mis-represented there should be a very heavy fine IMO.

 

I agree with the naffness aspect, but that's not really what the police should be enforcing. And most European countries have smaller plates than us, and it doesn't seem to have brought down their civilisations.

There needs to be limits; certainly you shouldn't be able to make a letter or digit look like something else. But 3/4 size plates, fancy fonts, non standard borders? If it's good enough for the London congestion charge, and it's good enough for petrol stations, there's really no justification.

 

i have a particular dislike for TV POlice (and Surrey for that matter) but aside from that I am so pleased to see that this elelemtn of crime is going to win a hearts and minds campaign.

 

I got a ticket in Camden at the weekend for parking without displaying a parking ticket. The nice traffic warden wrote my number plate down incorrectly so I was unable to pay my fine.

I decided in the end to use the funny reg he gave me to pay but it was very tempting.

 

The details about sizes etc are here :

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/media/pdf/leaflets/...umberplates.pdf

That means the 3/4 size plates are legal on an import car (I've just measured mine <fnar>).

Assuming that my car doesn't have type approval, which i think it doesn't hence the ESVA.

 

Yeah but....

That only applies if you can't physically fit a full sized plate, which you can. But what's more of a problem is that the plate has to have the correct border, show the BS mark (British Standard, not the other BS), and show the name of the registered garage that made them (or ordered them, don't know how it works).

So even if you get full sized plates with full sized letters and the correct font made up by the likes of fancyplates, they're still illegal. And any garage that made some that were smaller than they needed to be but with all the legit markings, would be in trouble.

It's a common misconception amongst import owners that they're immune. Nobody ever reads the whole document.

 

I've got the whole document, in the car (after getting a