davidallen/blog

Google camera cars arrive, but number plates will be blanked out

2008-07-04T06:44:00.000+01:00

Google camera cars arrive, but number plates will be blanked out

As the camera cars from Google Street View arrive in the UK, there are concerns that the photographs will capture number plates of parked cars, meaning that these images could prompt a rise in car cloning and the criminals would even have to leave their homes.

Google said: “We will not launch in UK until we are comfortable Street View complies with local law, including law relating to the display of images of individuals. We will use technology, like face-blurring and operational controls, such as image removal tools, so Street View remains useful and in keeping with local norms wherever it is available."

This should mean that the number plates of vehicles are blurred too; however is will this be case? In America there have been many complaints about the images which appear on Google and as number plate cloning is such a big business here in the UK, due to the automatic number plate recognition cameras, speed cameras and even the recording of number plates at filling stations.

Simon Davies, the director of Privacy International, will lodge a formal letter of complaint with Google this afternoon and will raise the matter with the Information Commissioner unless the company can prove that software protections can guarantee that number plates and faces will be blurred out of all pictures.

“Google have made similar privacy assurances in the past and nothing has come of them. We will remain sceptical until we have full disclosure of the technology behind these so called protections, he said.”

The problem is that will all vehicles number plates be blurred out, because if this is not so, there could be a huge rise in number plate cloning, cause no end of problems for the true owners of the vehicles whose number plates has been cloned.

Struan Robertson, a technology lawyer said: “There is only a privacy issue if people or the licence plates of their vehicles can be identified from the photographs. Even then, because the cameras are not targeting anyone in particular, it would be difficult to argue that what Google is doing is breaching anyone's right of privacy,” Mr Robertson said.

“There is an argument that Google should notify people on a street when photos are being taken, but Google has already suggested that it won't capture identifiable faces or identifiable licence plates in its European version of Street View. It's alive to Europe's tighter privacy regime.

"It said it can do that by lowering the resolution of images or using software to detect and blur faces. That will keep our Information Commissioner happy.”

Source [Times]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/04072008.htm

Cars with foreign number plates get away with parking fines

2008-07-03T06:32:00.000+01:00

Cars with foreign number plates get away with parking fines

Using the Freedom of Information act, it has been found that cars sporting a foreign number plate can get away with parking fines. This is because despite having the latest number plate technology and access to the DVLA data base foreign number plates just cannot be traced.

In one particular region, Lancashire, it has been noted that there is around a £130,000 still outstanding where a vehicle with foreign number plates has been fined for parking illegally since 2004. It works out at about 2,250 parking tickets, which have just had to be cancelled.

Parking campaigner Neil Herron said: “There is no way to trace the vehicle’s owner.

“If you issue a ticket to a foreign-registered vehicle you might as well throw it in the bin, because it will have to be written off.

“They issue the ticket in the remote possibility that it will be paid.

"If it is not paid they need to send a notice to the owner - but that must be the person on the DVLA database.”

Mr Herron added: “If they are inefficient working with the DVLA think how inefficient they will be with foreign authorities.

“It may well be that the best thing for them to do would be to ignore foreign drivers for administrative purposes.”

This could be a serious problem with more people coming over from other parts of the EU, as they know that they can park just about anywhere and at any time knowing full well that should they get a ticket there is nothing that the parking enforcement people can do about it.

A Parkwise spokesman said: “Foreign vehicles which are issued with a penalty charge notice are treated in the same way as UK registered vehicles.

“Civil enforcement officers are required to issue a PCN to any vehicle parked in contravention regardless of where they are from.

“Parkwise also follow the same statutory process and will enter into correspondence at foreign addresses when required.”

There is also the possibility that a UK resident could buy a car with foreign number plates and also be able to get away with parking anywhere they want to.

Source [Lancashire Telegraph]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/03072008.htm

Boy racers with illegal number plates

2008-07-02T06:55:00.000+01:00

Boy racers with illegal number plates

Police in Essex are taking positive action against so called boy racers, whose cars have been found to have illegal number plates, this where the number plate has either been altered in some way to make the number plate look as if it spells out a word or phrase or using the wrong fonts etc.

It seems that these boy racers tend to congregate at certain places like out of town shopping centres or industrial parks where in the evening they are deserted. This leaves a nice clear and open strip for the cars to let rip.

However they are putting themselves and others in danger by doing crazy stunts and driving at excessive speeds with the confines of a small car park area.

The police however are now able to use automatic number plate recognition systems to track down the drivers, who think they have got away, but their number plates have been recorded and the details logged for later.

Insp Dick Thomas said: "This dispersal order has so far been successful, particularly in the Paycocke Road area.

"It had the expected effect and although the problem was dispersed to other areas, with cruisers gathering elsewhere, we had the staff to deal with it and move them on."

By using dispersal orders the police are able to quickly and safely clear the areas, while at the same time either collect a list of number plate data or stop and check the worst offenders to deal with them on the spot. Cars that are sporting illegal number plates are just asking to be stopped by the police, so it is advisable to check the legal status of the car number plates before leaving home.

Source [Echo News]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/02072008.htm

Automatic Number Plate Recognition used to catch drug runners

2008-07-01T07:04:00.000+01:00

Automatic Number Plate Recognition used to catch drug runners

The police are resorting to hi tech equipment to catch drug runners through their number plates, police forces are more than ever relying on the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to read vehicles number plates which can be traced in seconds.

The concern of the police is that cars are being used to move consignments of drugs across county borders, but with ANPR the police are able to get a virtual instant response from the system and are then able to take immediate action to prevent their cargo from getting to its destination.

Police spokesman, Peter Butcher said: "The system is seen as a day to continuation of an initiative carried out in the Ledbury area in May, where ANPR enabled the arrest of six people on the Herefordshire/Gloucestershire border, as well as the seizure of quantities of controlled drugs."

The ANPR is being fitted to more and more police cars, where it is able to check the number plates of all the vehicles travelling within its scanning range and check the details against a hundred different databases. This means even if the number plate is on a fully legal car, the owner may be known to the police or even wanted.

Superintendent Kevin Purcell of Herefordshire Division said: "By investing in the technology, we are extending our capability to monitor vehicles on the county's round around the clock.

"This should send a strong message to the criminal fraternity, and especially those who seek to enter the county from elsewhere to commit crime.

"They run the serious risk of being stopped and arrested when they use the roads of Herefordshire."

Source [Ledbury Reporter]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/01072008.htm

Vehicles with false number plates follow tankers

2008-06-30T06:39:00.000+01:00

Vehicles with false number plates follow tankers

There is a growing trend these days for criminals to steal fuel; they use false number plates or vehicles that have stolen number plates on. But they are not stealing from filling stations; they are going for the softer target of home storage tanks.

Many people around the country are finding that their heating oil tanks have been emptied, in some cases the thieves have been spotted, so the number plates and vehicle details have taken down, but as with thefts from filling stations, the number plate information is wrong, because they are false number plates which have been stolen from other vehicles.

One victim, Madeleine Harding said: "I'm still paying for the last lot of oil I had which should have tided me over till Christmas next year.

"So in effect, if I buy some more, which I'm going to have to at some point, I will be paying double."

The thieves find it easy to know which tanks are full, because they simply follow the tankers around and make a note of the addresses to go back later. The tanker drivers often notice that they are being followed and report the number plates of the vehicles, but this has little effect because they are stolen.

Mark Nolan owns Nolan Oils in Bicester, Oxfordshire said: "The driver is on the look out all the time for people that might be following us.

"We've had instances where a vehicle tracked us for about two hours.

"We reported it to the local police but unfortunately by the time the police had got there the vehicle had driven away.

"Luckily we got some number plates but they were false plates of course."

He also had some advice to owners of oil tanks: "Make sure your garden is secure. Make sure that gates are locked.

"You can also buy locking fuel caps which makes it more difficult.

"But, it's the same as most things at the end of the day, if they do want to get the fuel they will get the fuel."

Source [BBC]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/30062008.htm

DVLA revokes lorry driver’s licence for ten years

2008-06-27T06:27:00.000+01:00

DVLA revokes lorry driver’s licence for ten years

The DVLA has told a lorry driver who was given an epileptic drug that he will not be able to drive for ten years. Because of this decision by the DVLA a driver’s livelihood has been put on hold, until he can persuade the DVLA that he is fit to drive.

Chris Perrin has been an HGV driver for the same company for twenty six years, when he slipped from the side of his lorry in March, he suffered a fractured skull and injured his shoulder and ribs, upon release from hospital he was prescribed the Pfizer drug Phenytoin to prevent any seizures that may occur, thinking that he would continue to drive his lorry.

However after informing the DVLA, he was shocked to hear that according to the DVLA rules he would not be able to drive for ten years because of taking this medication.

Mr Perrin said: "I've never had a seizure and was given Phenytoin because it would prevent me from having any.

"I could understand if it was one year, but 10 seems over the top. It's left me distraught."

"I hope I can at least keep my car licence, so I can drive vans and do parcel deliveries,"

But a DVLA spokeswoman said: "Drivers of Group 2 vehicles (above 3.5 tonnes) are subject to more stringent health standards than those required for Group 1. A Group 2 driver who suffers a serious head injury may have their entitlement revoked or refused."

"Return to driving will depend on specialist assessment and clinical recovery."

A Pfizer spokesman says: "The DVLA has its own criteria for deciding on fitness to drive in patients on any type of anti-epileptic medication."

Source [Road Transport]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/27062008.htm

Illegal number plates a common problem

2008-06-26T06:49:00.000+01:00

Illegal number plates a common problem

Police forces are saying that number plates that have been altered or are the wrong shape and size is becoming a common problem. A number plate needs to conform to strict guidelines otherwise it could be deemed illegal landing the owner in trouble.

There are many issues that can make a number plate illegal; these include the size, spacing and font size of the letter and numbers. Sometimes vehicle owners may alter the spacing on their number plate to make it spell a word or name. There are also number plates which use different fonts too as well as placing a black screw cap in a position where it can change certain letters into one word.

The police see an illegal number plate as a chance to stop the vehicle and check the driver’s details and give the car a good going over by checking the tyres, exhaust, lights and the general condition of the car.

Sergeant Liz Duthie from Lothian and Borders Police said: "People are maybe driving with tyres that are bald and don't realise how dangerous having a vehicle with such a defect can be."

Acting Sergeant Derek Marsh added: "We're looking at the general road-worthiness of the vehicle, starting with the tyres and checking they have plenty of tread and that the tyre wall doesn't have any cuts in it. If not compliant, you could get a £60 fine and three penalty points. We'll check lights, exhaust system and overall condition of the vehicle, and if required we can stop the vehicle being moved."

Source [STV]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/26062008.htm

Hamilton denies buying LEW 1S number plate

2008-06-25T06:42:00.001+01:00

Hamilton denies buying LEW 1S number plate

It seems that the story of F1 driver Lewis Hamilton buying a fancy number plate is wrong! The McLaren racer denies that he paid around £200,000 for a personalised number plate, saying that it sounded like the worst number plate ever!

He was questioned about the purchase during the French Grand Prix weekend, where in a press conference the questions were nit about his driving but more about the number plate and whether or not he actually did go out of his way to buy it.

The question is now, that was this just a publicity stunt by the actual owner of the LEW 1S number plate, a certain property developer Bob Lewis 57, who at the time was away on holiday in the South of France, only he can let the truth be known and it would be interesting to see if this number plate is still on his Mercedes or on another Mercedes somewhere in Switzerland.

Lewis Hamilton may have relished the talk of this number plate, rather than the comments that his driving in the last two Grand Prix has generated.

"That sounds like the worst number plate I've ever heard of," said the Vodafone McLaren driver.

"I'm not stupid enough to spend a couple of hundred grand on a bloody number plate," he added. "I wouldn't spend 100 pounds on a number plate. A number plate is a number plate; it doesn't mean anything to me."

Only time will tell, it would be great to know where the number plate is and if it is still up for sale, as there are plenty of famous Lewis’s around!

Source [Paddock Talk]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/25062008.htm

Famous Rolls up for sale, but number plate is not

2008-06-24T06:50:00.000+01:00

Famous Rolls up for sale, but number plate is not

One of the most famous Rolls Royce’s in the UK with an even more famous number plate AMS 1 is up for sale, of course the owner is one Sir Alan Sugar and the car has appeared in the hit TV show “The Apprentice” however, the number plate is not included in the sale.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Goodwood-built four-door saloon powered by a 6.7-litre V12 engine producing 453bhp and a massive 531lb/ft of pulling power. The engine can accelerate the 2.5-ton prestige car from 0-62mph (100kph) in just 5.9 seconds and on to a limited top speed of 149mph.

A spokesman for Sytner Rolls-Royce Knutsford, who are selling the car confirmed the sale saying: "The Rolls-Royce Phantom previously owned by Sir Alan Sugar is for sale."

"Sir Alan Sugar is the only owner of the 2005 Rolls-Royce Phantom," added the spokesman.

"His sort of money has afforded former Tottenham Hotspur chairman a host of luxury cars. But they don’t come more luxurious than his.

"The buyer won’t get their hands on Sugar’s signature plate ‘AMS1’ as he has kept hold of it for his current car – a new long wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantom."

The is not a just a piece of pure performance as inside the nineteen foot long car it has been furnished with around five hundred pieces of leather and sixty pieces of hand prepared wood veneer, which is what you would expect to find from a car of this standard.

Anyone wishing to buy this well known car will have to fork out around £180,000!

Source [Newslite]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/24062008.htm

Number plates used to track fly tippers

2008-06-20T06:36:00.000+01:00

Number plates used to track fly tippers

Councils in the UK are turning to Automatic Number Plate Number Recognition (ANPR) systems in an attempt to stop the growing menace of fly tipping. The ANPR system is used to catch the number plates of people who are just dumping rubbish, instead of disposing of it in the proper manner.

A council in London have set up their ANPR system at the councils main rubbish dump; this is to prevent the dumping of trade waste at the domestic facility. The system uses a special piece of software that recognises the number plates of vehicles which have visited the site more than two times a day.

Once captured the number plate images can be used to track down the offenders who may be builders and people who charge to remove people’s unwanted waste such as furniture and other heavy items.

Harrow council who have installed this system at their main rubbish disposal dump at Forward Drive, believe that they could be losing up to £4,000 per month in lost fees. These fees would be come from the councils own trade waste disposal services, but sometimes people try to reduce their costs.

Jerry Hickman, the council's head of public realm services, said: "Of course, we understand that sometimes householders might need to make a number of visits in one day - if they're clearing a garage, for example.

"But we will be watching for people who just want to dodge the proper payments for trade waste as that is ultimately cheating the council tax payers of Harrow."

Source [Harrow Observer]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/20062008.htm

Number plate neighbourhood watch team up for award

2008-06-19T06:45:00.000+01:00

Number plate neighbourhood watch team up for award

A neighbourhood watch team who have been helping vehicle owners to prevent their number plates from being stolen. The scheme has been named “Screw it of Lose it” offers special screws which secure the vehicles number plates, to prevent theft.

In celebration of the huge amount of work that the neighbourhood watch teams have been doing the West Yorkshire Police are launching the 2008 Neighbourhood Watch Awards, these awards will recognise the 150,000 who part of the scheme.

Susan Horsman, chair of the Dewsbury Division Neighbourhood Watch Association, said they were very pleased to be launching a new activity in their area.

“All of us in Neighbourhood Watch are keen to help the police in any way we can to drive down crime.

“We hope that this initiative will not only reduce crime but also raise people’s awareness of Neighbourhood Watch.”

“It works as you find that when a group sets up it is because local people want to do something in terms of crime prevention.

“We got our own watch together in Heathfield in 1998 and we are quite active socially. I would guess that ours is typical of many in the sense that we do keep people in touch with what is going on,”

The Dewsbury team have been working hard by setting up in car parks where drivers can find out more about protecting their number plates with the special screws.

Inspector Ian Gayles of the Dewsbury Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We work very closely with the Dewsbury Neighbourhood Watch Association and met recently to discuss how we can continue to work together.

“The Dewsbury Neighbourhood Policing Team support them in various initiatives as they are a vital cog in our crime reduction efforts and are an important channel in sending out key messages to the community.

“I would congratulate them for their recent campaign on the prevention of number plate theft and for their dedication in making Dewsbury a safer place to live. The nomination alone speaks for itself.”

The theft of number plates from vehicles is a growing concern, as these stolen number plates can then be used by thieves to steal fuel from filling stations where they have CCTV capturing all of the number plates of vehicles that come in to fill up.

Source [West Yorkshire Police]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/19062008.htm

UK number plates could be traced for driving offences abroad

2008-06-18T06:39:00.000+01:00

UK number plates could be traced for driving offences abroad

Under a new European ruling UK drivers could find that their number plates hold the key to a wave of fines. If a new law is passed it make it easier for European authorities to trace drivers through their number plates to enforce driving offences.

It is estimated that around five million drivers from the UK venture into Europe every year, however they often fall foul of the different driving laws and the way that speed restrictions are signed. For anyone who has driven in Europe they would notice that there is a lack of speed signs, this is because in a country like France, the speed limits are standard throughout the country, i.e. if a car enters a village the speed limit is 31 mph, but this is not indicated.

The head of the AA's road safety dept, Andrew Howard said: "French village signs automatically impose a limit of 50 km/h (31 mph) but motorists don't always know this.

"It is hard enough to make a challenge when the offence is said to have been committed in Somerset and you live in Norfolk and it will be far harder if it happens in Spain."

Many drivers are being caught by speed cameras and their number plates are taken down, but at the moment as in the UK, foreign number plates are a no go area for the authorities as it is just too hard to chase them up.

A European Commission spokesman said: "The record and the fine just go straight in the bin."

The European Commission are planning to change this by allowing foreign police forces to gain access through the DVLA to the details of the registered keepers of the vehicles whose number plates have caught on camera.

Source [Telegraph]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/18062008.htm

£200,000 paid for the “LEW 1S” number plate

2008-06-17T06:55:00.000+01:00

£200,000 paid for the “LEW 1S” number plate

A number plate that is fit for a star, that is how the number plate that bares the digits LEW 1S and clearly there would be only one person that such a number plate would suit. Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton has recently splashed out £200,000 for the number that has his name on it.

It is unusual for to find a number plate that actually has a name on it and LEW 1S is just one of the few which can provide this identity without the need to change or alter any of the letters and numbers.

The number plate was bought by a property tycoon, Bob Lewis only last year for around £50,000 he used on a Mercedes Benz, so it is only apt that an F1 Driver who also drives for Mercedes Benz should make him an offer he could not refuse.

Selling it for £200,000 is a no brainer really, making a profit of around £150,000 is good business, nobody is going to doubt that, but we have to ask the question: Was Lewis Hamilton doing the deal in Canada just before he hit the Ferrari?

A source close to the deal said: "It may sound like a lot of money but it is typical of Lewis not to care about cost when he really wants something."

A friend of the property tycoon said: "He dearly loved that plate. But business is business."

Source [Mirror]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/17062008.htm

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) fines vintage tractor twice!

2008-06-16T06:45:00.000+01:00

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) fines vintage tractor twice!

As the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is being used by councils, the police and other enforcement agencies to read the number plates of vehicles which break the law in one way or another. But sometimes it goes wrong as a farmer found out.

Farmer, Eric Smart, 74, actually visited London once, but that was forty five years ago, however according to the data that the Transport for London (TFL) have he visited London on at least two occasions and parked illegally as his number plate popped up in the system.

The problem is that the number plate actually belongs to a vintage tractor that has been stored in a barn for the past fourteen years! The Massey Ferguson tractor with the registration number SWA 525 is supposed to have been unloading in Sloane Square and parked illegally in Wandsworth too.

But even if the tractor was on the road, with a maximum speed of 15 mph, it would probably have taken him over two days to get to London and back. But despite all of this he has still had to spend around £30 on phone calls to try and right the situation.

Mr Smart said: "I've run up £30 in phone bills trying to explain to Transport for London that my tractor only has a speed of 15mph and it would take me the best part of two days to get there and back."

"The first time it happened there was only one thing I could think of - that the tractor was delivering a bale of hay to Queen's horses and if it got there on time she didn't have to feed them sawdust," he said.

"This time I just can't think - I don't even know where Wandsworth is."

Kensington and Chelsea council apologised to Mr Smart and said: "If a penalty charge notice is not paid or contested within 14 days of issue the council will send an enquiry to the DVLA to find out the name and address of the registered keeper of the vehicle.

"In this case, your name and address was notified to us and that is why a notice to owner was posted to you.

"However, it is clear from further investigation that due to a system error your address details were added incorrectly and as you state your vehicle was not parked in the Royal Borough area at the relevant time."

ANPR is a good system, but sometimes the system is not always correct and it is about time that there was some easier way for victims of number plate cloning to explain the situation and resolve the matter.

Source [Daily Mail]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/16062008.htm

Cars with foreign number plates get away with fines

2008-06-13T06:38:00.000+01:00

Cars with foreign number plates get away with fines

In north London cars that sport foreign number plates are getting away with parking anywhere as the councils are unable to chase down the details through the number plates. A foreign registered car does not need to register with the DVLA for a year of being in the country.

This loophole has meant that nearly two thousand vehicles with foreign number plates have got away with parking fines from Barnet Council; this is merely the tip of the iceberg but highlights how large this problem is on a national scale.

A member of the West Hendon Community Forum said that she was: "infuriated that cars with Polish and Slovakian number plates repeatedly park illegally in the road.

"We've always had problems with parking here, but there are a lot of foreign cars now, and it's got worse," she said.

"When they get tickets they just laugh and tear them up. I've told the traffic wardens and the police and they don't do anything. I'm so infuriated."

Despite being given parking tickets these cars just simply cannot be traced through the number plate, it just would not be cost effective and would also take a lot of time and effort.

Councillor Andrew Harper, cabinet member for environment and transport, said: "to trace offending drivers, the council relied on the car database of the DVLA, the Government agency responsible for licensing cars and drivers.

"Unfortunately, the majority of foreign vehicles within the borough are not registered with the DVLA, making the task of enforcing unpaid tickets challenging.

"Unpaid penalty charge notices issued to foreign vehicles are not written off by the council. The charge remains open and is actively pursued as and when the keeper details become known to either the council, the DVLA or partner agencies."

It has to be wondered how many of these cars are being driven by British people who know that no matter what they do on the road, their number plate is not going to give them away.

Source [Hendon Times]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/13062008.htm

DVLA keeps callers hanging on the line

2008-06-12T07:03:00.000+01:00

DVLA keeps callers hanging on the line

The DVLA has been criticised for the way that it handles customer complaints. Its not the actual way that the DVLA treats a complaint, but rather how long a customer is kept waiting on the phone to speak to a DVLA member of staff.

The consumer watchdog Which? arranged for mystery shoppers to call around various public bodies and large companies in order to gauge the customer experience that they received. The object of the exercise was to find out how long callers had to wait to speak to a member of staff.

This has produced a list of the top thirty organisations known as the “Hall of Shame” and the DVLA was in the top three for keeping callers hanging on the line the longest. What makes this worse is the simple fact that most of these organisations are using premium phone lines like the 0871, 0870, 0844 and 0845 numbers; these are very costly and are often used for technical help and customer service.

The DVLA who use a 0870 number made an estimated £3.4 million last from the phone line alone, which has prompted a number of complaints.

Neil Fowler of Which? Said: "Why should you pay for the privilege of making a complaint or getting a problem fixed? It's unacceptable that companies and government agencies can make big money from people calling help lines,"

"Check if there's a cheaper number or ask the company to refund the call cost. It's the least they can do if you're calling about a faulty product or bad service."

Source [Independent]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/12062008.htm

Manchester to get advanced Automatic Number Plate Recognition system

2008-06-11T07:07:00.000+01:00

Manchester to get advanced Automatic Number Plate Recognition system

As Manchester gets the go ahead to become the next city to introduce road charging, vehicle number plates will become more important as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems monitor the roads for vehicles that have not paid the charge.

Vehicle number plates will become the drivers key to the city, if they do not pay or even forget to pay the data stored against the number plate will be used to enforce fines, which will make the drive to work just that little bit more expensive.

These plans work to the governments Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) in return the city will get a massive £2.8 billion investment:

The TIF package proposal includes:

Information displays at all major bus and train stations giving passengers up to date information on when their bus or train will arrive.
Improved roadside information for drivers, warning them of accidents and delays
Integrated ticketing arrangements, including smartcards
Improvements to 41 rail stations including CCTV coverage, seats, shelters and better signing and information

The charges will only operate during the peak hours and will be applied to different areas. The system will be using a tag and beacon style technology, but this is going to be supported by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems for those vehicles that have not paid.

The Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said: "This is about creating a world class transport system for a world class city.

"Thriving cities are those where people have access to education and jobs, and where businesses can flourish.

"Manchester's economic renaissance is a major British success story. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the UK, but congestion has become an increasing brake on its future prosperity, with the potential to cost the city as many as one in seven of future jobs.

"Today I applaud the ambition and vision of Greater Manchester's councils. Their proposals will sustain the region's growth, bring benefits to all those who live in the area and enable Greater Manchester to compete with the best cities across the world."

Source [Public Technology]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/11062008.htm

Unlucky number plate sells for £65,000!

2008-06-10T07:11:00.000+01:00

Unlucky number plate sells for £65,000!

A woman from Hong Kong has paid £65,000 for the number plate 4444, despite the fact that in China the number four is considered unlucky. The number plate was sold at a government auction along with a further 270 unusual number plates.

It’s unusual for number plates with a four in to be considered desirable simply because four in Chinese culture has a link to death, this is because of the way that the number is pronounced, it sounds very similar to the way that the word death is pronounced.

The woman refused to comment on her purchase of this rather unusual number plate, but maybe she came from Chaozhou, a city in the southern Guangdong province, where in their dialect the word for four sounds very similar to water, this is considered lucky because water is linked to money.

It’s amazing how a simple number plate can provoke such in depth knowledge into the culture of China and yet somehow this is what buying a personalised number plate is all about.

But for someone to be able to pay such an amount for a number plate, maybe there is no basis for the fear of the number four, in fact this number plate could be considered lucky for some.

Source [AFP]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/10062008.htm

The DVLA introduce an interactive game on their website

2008-06-09T06:47:00.000+01:00

The DVLA introduce an interactive game on their website

The DVLA website has introduced a fantastic interactive game to the website where players can win tickets to the 2008 British International Motor Show. This is just another addition to the much used DVLA website, the game is set to be a big hit for the DVLA and their customers.

The 2008 British International Motor Show is always a big hit with all fans of anything automotive, and is one of the highlights of the British car industry.

The game that the DVLA have created is called “Plate Chaser” and can be found on the DVLA website at dvlaregistrations.co.uk/platechaser/ and to be a winner all a players needs to do is control a radio controlled car around a map of the Motor Show and collect number plates which have been placed around the show at random places.

This is done against the clock and all players that get around the circuit within the pre set qualifying time are automatically entered into the prize draw, where there will be fifty pairs of tickets to the 2008 British International Motor Show will be won.

The competition will run from the 23rd July 2008 to 3rd August 2008. The marketing manager of DVLA Personalised Registrations, Damian Lawson, said: “The International Motor Show is the hub of the British automotive calendar and attracts a huge audience. This game gives would-be visitors a fun and exciting way to get through the gates for free, whilst testing their own driving skills to the limit.”

Source [Easier]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/09062008.htm

The DVLA plan to giveaway new cars!

2008-06-06T06:24:00.000+01:00

The DVLA plan to giveaway new cars!

It may seem strange but the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) are planning to giveaway new cars in a prize draw. In order to qualify for the competition all a vehicle owner has to do is renew their vehicle tax on the DVLA website.

The DVLA website has been one of the great successes recently with over twenty six million people using the Electronic Vehicle Licensing (EVL) system to renew their road fund licence or to declare the off road SORN service.

Over the next year there will be three SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive 1.4 TDI cars to be won each month. The SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive 1.4 TDI has CO2 emissions of 99g/km and so qualifies for zero charge for vehicle tax and, from 27 October 2008, the London Congestion Charge.

To renew vehicle tax or SORN, visit direct.gov.uk/taxdisc or phone 0870 850 4444 or text phone 0870 850 4445. All applications processed between 5th June 2008 and 31st May 2009 will be automatically entered into the free prize draw to win a brand new SEAT Ibiza Ecomotive 1.4 TDI.

The Customer Services Director of the DVLA, Andrew Rhodes, said: “With the home nations’ absence in Euro 2008 it may seem there is little to smile about this summer. But thanks to SEAT the DVLA will be giving away three new cars each month while reminding all our customers just how quick and easy it is to use our electronic services.

"If you use the online or telephone service, you don’t even need to find your MOT or insurance documents, as we automatically check them for you, and the service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and takes less than 4 minutes to complete.”

Source [Easier]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/06062008.htm

DVLA slammed over driver details being sold

2008-06-05T07:02:00.000+01:00

DVLA slammed over driver details being sold

An MP has criticised the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for selling the details of vehicle owners to private businesses. A company can contact the DVLA armed only with number plate details and for around £5 can get the owners address and details.

It is taken for granted that the police and local authorities can contact the DVLA for these purposes, simply because they enforce laws etc, but companies that operate parking schemes and who are agents for car park owners can also get vehicle owners details in order to issue fines.

One such case is that of Cindy MacLeod, she parked outside a burger bar and a few days later received a £95 fine from a company called UK Parking Control.

Cindy MacLeod, said: "I'm angry that my personal details can be handed out to a company without me knowing anything about it.

"Whatever happened to data protection?"

"We hadn't noticed when we arrived that you're only allowed to park outside the restaurant for an hour.

"But we were in there for longer because it took 25 minutes to get served and there was a large group of us."

Livingston Labour MP Jim Devine, called it a "charter for burglars" and went on to say: "I find it totally unacceptable that the DVLA can sell to private security companies the home addresses of people throughout the UK.

"This is nothing more than a charter for burglars and the Government needs to close this loophole."

A spokesman for the DVLA, said: "There is certain information handed out from our database in relation to parking and traffic offences, providing they can provide reasonable cause to need that information.

"Any company that contact us need to be a member of an accredited trade association."

This is worrying as just about anyone can obtain details of vehicle owner, by simply taking down their number plate, what happens to this data and who has access to it is anyone’s guess.

Source [Daily Record]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/05062008.htm

Rare number plate up for sale

2008-06-04T06:56:00.000+01:00

Rare number plate up for sale

It would appear to be a great way of raising funds these days, number plates which have been in the hands of councils are suddenly becoming hot property. Sefton Council are selling their mayors number plate which was first registered in 1946.

The council has set up a webpage http://forms.sefton.gov.uk/carreg which can be printed off and this is then used to bid for the number plate FFY 1, only sealed bids will be accepted for this piece of number plate history, all bids must be in by: Noon on the 4th September 2008.

This number plate was first issued to the Southport Corporation on the 1st October 1946 and has been used on a number of vehicles, as well as serving over sixty mayors.

“A unique piece of history for sale

Sefton Council Civic & Mayoral Services is offering a unique piece of history for sale.

The Mayoral Number plate "FFY 1", which was issued on the 1st October 1946 (with the original number plate format starting in the early 1930s for the old Southport Corporation) is being put up for sale by a sealed bidding process.

Any person wishing to make a sealed bid for this registration plate can download a form, or contact 0151 934 3225 (24hr Answering machine) and a form will be sent to you.

All sealed bids must be received by 12 noon, Thursday 4th September 2008.”

This is a chance for a collector or maybe even a company or person with the initials FFY to own a very special number plate.

Source [Liverpool Echo]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/04062008.htm

Jeremy Clarkson slams government number plate data

2008-06-03T07:26:00.000+01:00

Jeremy Clarkson slams government number plate data

Jeremy Clarkson from “Top Gear” has said that the government plans to link data to number plates would fail if vehicle owners simply altered the number plate or changed a couple of the digits. He was speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales. Where, he admitted driving at 186 mph on a UK road.

His point is valid, by linking car insurance, MOT, car tax and even criminal records to a vehicles number plate is ok, but if the driver wants to avoid detection from the automatic number plate recognition systems that the police are using more and more to check vehicles, all they need to do is either change the number plate or alter the number plate is some way.

At the meeting he said quite a lot about the whole driving experience in the UK as you can imagine, but here are a few selected quotes:

When asked about the fastest that he had driven on a road in the UK he said: "On the public roads...186!"

"I got pulled over the other day for not having insurance but that was just a technicality! I was in a brand new Audi R8 and a policeman pulled me over.

"He said they had checked the number plate and the car were not insured. I didn't even know they could tell that from number plates.

"It was a car I had been provided with for a test drive and it was all a mistake.

"But I haven't been pulled over for speed for 20 years and I have never been pulled over for speed while working on Top Gear. I don't drive very fast!"

"But these days you don't get stopped by the police because they are all filling in health and safety forms and inventing reasons why they can't go and catch a burglar!

"Now the Government is going to pass this new car tax structure and system of crime and punishment and base it all on the number plates of cars. If everybody just switched the number plate by a couple of digits....!"

Being in the spot light like he is, Jeremy Clarkson is always going to be the voice of the silent majority, even when he gets caught using his mobile phone while driving at 70 mph!

Source [Mirror]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/03062008.htm

Man Utd’s Ronaldo wants the CR7 number plate

2008-06-02T06:44:00.000+01:00

Man Utd’s Ronaldo wants the CR7 number plate

A number plate which has the brand name CR7 is the object of desire for the Man Utd footballer Christiano Ronaldo. The number plate bares the same digits as the player’s initials, shirt, store and future night club in Funchal, Portugal.

However being a cherished number plate it is already sitting comfortably on a Bentley Continental which is owned by property millionaire Charlie Robinson of Troon, Ayrshire in Scotland. Ronaldo may be obsessed by the number plate CR7, but Robinson also has an appetite for number plates too, as he already owns the sister number plate CR8 which is on a Ferrari F430.

Robinson has said that the only way that he will let the CR7 number plate go is if a replacement is given, he wants the CR1 number plate which is estimated to be worth £175,000 for the Bentley, making the number plate worth more than the car itself.

Robinson, of Troon, Ayrshire, said: "That registration plate is close to my heart and I won't be letting it go easily.

"I bought it three or four years ago and I've had a few inquiries about it since then.

"I haven't spoken to Ronaldo personally but there has been some interest."

"It's a part of the car now. I certainly wouldn't be pressured into selling it.

"The only way I'd be convinced to part with it would be in a swap deal for CR 1 - that way everybody would be happy."

Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes, although he did refuse to comment directly about the matter, said: "He's determined to get it.

"He's obsessed with the CR 7 branding and wants it on everything he has.

"Everybody has their price and when you earn the money Ronaldo does, you can buy pretty much anything you like."

Ronaldo is believed to earn around £120,000 per week as a footballer for Man Utd, so maybe £175,000 is not a great deal for him.

Source [Sunday Mail]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/02062008.htm

Number plates still being stolen from parked cars

2008-05-30T06:33:00.000+01:00

Number plates still being stolen from parked cars

Despite the warnings it seems that number plates are still being stolen from parked cars. The number plates are then used to clone cars to either avoid the automatic number plate recognition cameras or to steal fuel from filling stations.

In many cases the time between the number plates being stolen and subsequently reported to the police is enough for the thieves to steal hundreds of pounds worth of fuel, which is later sold on at discount prices.

Because the thieves are stealing the number plates from cars which are parked in drives at night, the owners are not likely to report the theft to the police until the morning. By the time the stolen number plate is on the DVLA database the damage has already been done.

Another way of using these number plates is to clone a car and sell it on to unsuspecting second hand car buyers; the first thing that the new owner knows about this is when they are stopped by the police!

Crime reduction advisor for Leigh, Wendy O'Neil, said: "There are a number of things motorists can do to. Plates can be protected by secure plate screws, and there are also specially made plates which are available to buy and which fall to bits if removed and so are rendered useless.

"These simple measures will reduce the chances of number plates being targeted and could save people a lot of worry."

Source [Leigh Journal]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/30052008.htm

DVLA criticised by Judge over fake licence

2008-05-29T06:51:00.000+01:00

DVLA criticised by Judge over fake licence

The DVLA have been coming under a lot of pressure recently due to fake driving licences. But one case has found that a fake driving licence sent to the DVLA twice to be endorsed was in fact a fake and staff at the DVLA failed to notice this.

Christopher Channell a 53 year old father of three, had been driving for over twenty years on a provisional driving licence issued through the DVLA as normal, but while working for Southampton City Council as a courier he was stopped by police for not wearing a seat belt.

The police contacted the DVLA and discovered that he was not authorised to drive as he had not passed the driving test, but after receiving a summons, Channell’s solicitor sent a copy of a full driving licence and the case was dropped.

However it was also found that the very same fake driving licence had been sent to the DVLA on two occasions to be endorsed for speeding offences, the DVLA failed to realise that this licence was a fake and endorsed it.

Judge Bootham said: "I hope the DVLA are looking into this. It's a bizarre situation."

"I have come to the conclusion it would not be in the public interest to send you to prison. You are not a danger to the public and apart from these matters you are a respectable man with no previous convictions. You have led an honest and decent life,"

Source [This Is Hampshire]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/29052008.htm

Metal thieves caught through their number plates

2008-05-28T06:30:00.000+01:00

Metal thieves caught through their number plates

The police in Northumberland are using automatic number plate recognition cameras to check the number plates of suspicious vehicles. There is an increase in metals being stolen and it would seem that these thieves can be caught through their vehicle registrations.

It has been named “Operation Cady” and the object is to clamp down on the growing crime of stealing metal, these thieves are taking advantage of the high price of scrap metal. The thieves are targeting cables of all types, like phone and even power lines as these contain copper.

But the thieves are not stopping there, they are stealing drain covers, sign posts, lead from roofs and even catalytic converters from parked cars. However due to the growing CCTV systems around the country the number plates of the vehicles used are the only clues to who the thieves are.

Detective Inspector Steve Patrick, who led the operation, said: "The rise in metal theft is a national issue and we are using a variety of resources to tackle the problem in Northumberland.

"Thieves are not only targeting construction sites and public buildings; they will seize any opportunity to seize metal.

"The Stocksfield war memorial has had its brass plaque stolen and numerous properties have had lead stolen from their roofs across the country.

"This operation has shown we are targeting the right people and we will continue to keep them in our sights.

"The information and intelligence we have gathered during the course of the operation will be used in the coming months.

"We also need the public to help us. If people see suspicious activity or vehicles which seem out of place they need to let us know so we can take action."

Source [Northumberland Gazette]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/28052008.htm

Number plate spacing means a fine

2008-05-27T13:05:00.000+01:00

Number plate spacing means a fine

The business of private and personalised number plates has brought in around £1 billion, yet some number plate owners are being fined because the spacing on the number plate is wrong. Even some cars that pass the MOT are falling foul of this law.

According to the DVLA, the spacing between the letters and the number of a number plate should be 33 mm, however to pass a MOT the measurement need only be 22 mm!

But some people who are creating names and words are squeezing the letters and numbers together, so that the number plate looks like the required word.

This surprised one driver who bought the number plate DC51 RON, but it read DC5 1RON, he works in the iron industry and when his vehicle was seen on a speed camera, the game was up as they can measure the spacing on the number plate. This meant a £30 fine for vehicle owner.

Dave Collins, 52, said: “There is not enough information put forward to warn people.”

“It can’t be that illegible, the fine managed to reach me,”

Alidrew Engineers of Heaton Park Road, Newcastle, said: “We had someone saying their car passed its MOT, but she was fined,”

Chief Insp Kevin Wellden, of Northumbria Police, said: “Legislation provides requirements for plates. They need to include the BS Kite Mark and manufacturer details.”

Source [Chronicle Live]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/27052008.htm

When writing down number plates is not enough

2008-05-23T07:33:00.000+01:00

When writing down number plates is not enough

Many petrol station owners have been taking images of number plates for some time, some even just write the number plates down. But this is still having little or no effect on the rise of fuel thefts from these filling stations, leaving some owners to resort to other means of theft prevention.

Many independent filling station owners are installing stinger devices, this is similar to what the police use to stop cars, but these stingers are built into the forecourt exits and when activated a series of spike rise out of the ground disabling the vehicle.

Mukesh Patel, the owner of a petrol station near Finsbury Park, North London, said: “More people are attempting it with the high cost of fuel and we have been getting at least one a week,” he said. “But since the notices about the spikes went up last month, there haven’t been any drive-aways.”

“The police set up a system two years ago where you fax them the vehicle details. I sent in dozens but they didn’t respond so I gave up six months ago.”

“My father used to sit on the forecourt writing down number plates but the thieves would just use fake ones. I decided to build a system which speaks the only language these people understand.

“Interest in it started slowly but I am now having to double my staff to cope with the calls from forecourt owners who have people queuing up to steal from them.”

Ray Holloway, a director of The Petrol Retailers’ Association, said: “There is a point not too far north of the current price when all forecourts will have to require card payment at the pump or prepayment.”

"some retailers were using automatic number plate recognition cameras and sharing data of cars which have been used in drive-aways with other businesses."

This drastic action from filling station owners is a sign of the times and with fuel prices set to rise further, this sort of crime is only going to get worse.

Source [Times]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/23052008.htm

Automatic Number Plate Recognition used to catch “Rogue Traders”

2008-05-22T09:36:00.000+01:00

Automatic Number Plate Recognition used to catch “Rogue Traders”

The police are using their Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems to track down rogue traders who have had their number plates reported by the people that they have conned into having unnecessary work done on their homes.

These conmen simply knock on a victim’s door and inform them that urgent work is needed, they then will either over charge them, do a sub standard job or in most cases both, leaving their victims to pick up the mess left behind.

Operation Rogue Trader is being put in place by the police, and if people who have been conned or had someone try to con them, all they need to do is report the conmen’s number plates and the Automatic Number Plate Recognition will do the rest, it makes no difference if the vehicles are not registered properly either. For once reported, the number plate is on the system.

Detective Inspector Jerry Dawson said: "Rogue traders cause a lot of misery to the people they take money from. They often prey on the elderly or vulnerable members of the community and scare them into agreeing to work by making false claims about the state of their homes.

"The anxiety and unnecessary distress caused by these individuals is unacceptable and we are determined to tackle this.

"Through this operation we want to send a clear message to rogue traders that they are not welcome in Wiltshire. Our activity will not be confined solely to this one day and rogue trading will be tackled all year round by officers committed to protecting the public from these cowboy traders."

Source [Gazette and Herald]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/22052008.htm

Sat Nav lorries to have number plates reported

2008-05-21T06:46:00.000+01:00

Sat Nav lorries to have number plates reported

The number plates of lorry drivers, who follow their satellite navigation systems to letter, are to have their number plates taken down and reported to the police. However the growing number of foreign vehicles means that even with the number plate, there is not much that can be done about them.

Following the sat nav is particularly dangerous when then driver is directed down narrow country lanes and into villages where the roads are not suitable, Woodville in Staffordshire, where the problem has prompted residents to report the number plates of any lorry that is over 7.5 tonnes.

James Bodell, 29, a resident, said: "The problem with lorries has got worse over the time I have lived here.

"They are coming off the M42 and cutting through. It makes the windows rattle and knocks the picture off the television.

"Cars also come round the bend on Moira Road at the rate of knots, and the concern is there because so many kids live round here.

"We would like to see more enforcement action taken on the heavy goods vehicles and for some speed restrictions to be put in place."

Fellow resident Jenny Parry, 25, said: "We see a lot of foreign lorries.

"You see the sat-navs at the front of their lorries and know that is what is taking them down Moira Road as they don't know any better.

"It is very frustrating. It causes a lot of noise and why? Because a piece of technology is telling lorry drivers to come this way.

"I think signage needs to be improved to stop this from happening."

The Chairman of Woodville Parish Council, Ray Statham, said: "We have had a few occasions of this happening. Residents can help by taking down the number plates of vehicles. There cannot be someone patrolling the area every hour.

"The police say with that information they could prosecute."

Satellite navigation systems are good, but drivers should also take notice of the road signs too, as these have local information with regards to the road conditions.

Source [Burton Mail]

Personallyyours.co.uk who is registered with the DVLA has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/21052008.htm

Automatic Number Plate Recognition to capture all cars entering Manchester

2008-05-20T08:46:00.000+01:00

Automatic Number Plate Recognition to capture all cars entering Manchester

Every vehicle entering Manchester will have its number plate scanned by an Automatic Number Plate Recognition system. This is the place outside London to use this system to monitor the number plates of vehicles as matter of course.

Manchester will be the place outside of London to use this sort of monitoring to check the status of every vehicle entering the city. It is estimated that around 600,000 vehicles enter the city each day and this data will be stored for five years.

The system has already been installed on twelve of the major routes into the city, leaving little chance of any driver being able to avoid being caught on camera and having their number plate photographed and stored.

The legal director of the civil rights group Liberty, James Welch, said: "We have no problem with its use to locate vehicles whose owners police firmly suspect of having committed an offence.

"But it shouldn't be used for mass surveillance, or to target people the police have a hunch are up to no good." The fixed cameras began operating this month, with details - not photos - fed to the national database. They scan details of cars travelling at up to 100mph."

Greater Manchester Police, Assistant Chief Constable, Dave Thompson said: "the fixed cameras `will bring enormous benefits and aid us in protecting our communities.

Sheila Ranger, of the RAC Foundation, said: "Our worry with the ANPR system is that it will encourage some people not to register their vehicles at all."

Source [Manchester Evening News]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/20052008.htm

Prince Harry’s number plate taken down and reported to police

2008-05-19T07:00:00.000+01:00

Prince Harry’s number plate taken down and reported to police

It’s not every day that we get a chance to talk about a royal number plate, but today the police are investigating that a royal convoy put lives at risk. The cars number plates were taken down and reported to the police. The DVLA will have a shock when they run the number plate details.

This happened last Saturday evening on the busy M4 near Slough, Berkshire, at the moment there are no real facts emerging from either the police or Clarence House, but no doubt as the story expands there is a need to find out exactly what happened and more importantly what is going to be done about it?

The person who reported the event is company director, Tim Williams, he believes that the action of the royal convoy put his family and other road user’s lives at risk.

Tim Williams said: "They put lives at risk.

"It was about 8pm on Saturday, and we were driving from Marlborough in Wiltshire to London in the middle lane.

"I was about to pull out when I saw an Audi R8 in my mirrors.

"It came from nowhere. I let it pass. It was going a hell of a speed – at least 100mph.

"I then pulled into the outside lane. Immediately a Range Rover came right up behind us.

"It was very close. I thought they were going to nudge me. It was frightening. The middle lane was busy so I couldn't pull back in.

"I accelerated because the Range Rover was so close, ridiculously close.

"I thought perhaps the Range Rover was racing with the Audi. It really did scare us. It was intimidating.

"He then started flashing his lights, obviously wanting me out of the way.

"Then the blue flashing lights came on. I realised it must be an unmarked police car. I couldn't understand why he hadn't had his blue lights on when I first saw him if it was an emergency.

"I had no option but to accelerate, forcing me well over the 70mph limit to speeds I was uncomfortable with.

"As the Range Rover passed, the angry passenger in the front shook his fist and his mobile phone at me. They were doing well over 100mph."

Mr Williams went on to say: "I was surprised to see the Range Rover in the distance. I wondered why it was suddenly sticking to the speed limit when minutes ago there was apparently an emergency.

"By the end of the M4, we had caught up with the Range Rover and the Audi sitting in a traffic jam.

"My wife took down both their number plates. We felt we had to report them.

"How dare they put the lives of motorists at risk?

"They intimidated me and my family. It was really dangerous and I'm furious that they think they can drive like this just because of who they are.

"Surely if the police have to tail Prince Harry, then that's all the more reason for his mate to drive slowly, or at least within the speed limit."

Scotland Yard said: "We are not prepared to discuss matters of security or protection."

Clarence House added: "It's a police matter, and we'll leave it to them."

Source [Daily Mail]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/19052008.htm

Criminals disguising number plates to steal fuel

2008-05-16T06:46:00.000+01:00

Criminals disguising number plates to steal fuel

As the price of fuel increases virtually on a daily basis, thieves are becoming more resourceful, they stealing number plates and even disguising number plates with sticky tape in order to stay ahead of the automatic number plate recognition systems (ANPR).

There has been an unprecedented rise in the amount thefts taking place at petrol filling stations, despite many attempts by the owners of some filling stations to combat this crime wave, there are always going to a certain amount of smaller filling stations who do not have the resources to install such security measures.

But even the most sophisticated systems where the ANPR checks the number plate of a vehicle before the pump can be switched on cannot stop all of the thieves, especially if they have just stolen the number plate or have altered their own number plate with sticky tape, this is known as stripping.

A spokesman from insurance company NTU Mutual said: “It’s a new crime as far as we’re concerned. We had not seen domestic oil being taken until about six months ago. Thieves will steal anything that’s valuable.” Fearless robbers are actually driving tankers right into farms and large back gardens that have the oil tanks in view – and siphoning off up to £1,000 worth of fuel."

“There have been over 100 claims in the last six months, at a combined cost of over £50,000”

Source [Auto Express]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plate website catches bad drivers

2008-05-14T06:48:00.000+01:00

Number plate website catches bad drivers

UK drivers should be aware because a number plate reporting website is being used by the police to track them down through the number plate that has been added to the site by other drivers who have seen them driving badly.

The website is called betterdrivingplease.com and has come about because of the drivers who are constantly getting away with bad driving; this can be anything from using a mobile phone while driving, having an illegal number plate or speeding through residential areas.

Andrew McGavin, founder of the website, said: "Thames Valley Police (TVP) should sit up and take notice of its findings."

He said: “It’s now the norm to see dangerous driving on every journey you make. The message isn’t getting through to drivers and the police aren’t catching enough people."

“That’s what makes a database like this necessary."

“The more reports there are on the site the more powerful a weapon it becomes against the small minority of stupid drivers who make it dangerous for the rest of us on the roads.”

He said: “Our website is like a pressure cooker. I believe that the police will have to take something like this on board.”

A spokesperson from the Thames Valley Police, said: “Betterdrivingplease.com is a national website which gives people the opportunity to report instances of what they believe to be bad driving."

“However, these reports do not usually contain the evidence necessary to prosecute.”

This is not the only website that has appeared in the UK recently, but it does show one thing that people are willing to grass up other drivers, simply because they only need the number plate to do so.

Source [Get Reading]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/14052008.htm

Man cuts car in half to stop DVLA from seizing it

2008-05-13T06:39:00.000+01:00

Man cuts car in half to stop DVLA from seizing it

Ian Taylor registered his Ford Fiesta with the DVLA as being off the road, but an eagle eyed clamper working for the DVLA noticed that the cars rear wheel was sticking out of his drive and so clamped it. The DVLA demanded £200 to release it, but got more than they bargained for.

The car owner was so outraged at the clamping that he decided to cut the car in half with a petrol driven chain saw and when the clampers returned to seize the vehicle, they were asked which half they wanted!

The clampers response was to call 999, five police cars and ten police officers attended the emergency, as well as a fire engine and crew. But as the police decided to take no action, the clampers told the car owner that he could keep the car!

Mr Taylor, a builder, said: "I had to make a point. These people are so petty and they just won't listen to you."

"The car was legally registered to be where it was - on my driveway. But they decided to make an issue of it because of two inches. It's ridiculous."

"The ticket said it was a criminal offence to damage the clamp so I didn't. It was a drastic step but I stand by my decision to do it."

A spokesman for clamping firm NCP Services, James Pritchard, communications manager, said: "One of our team spotted the vehicle and half of it was on a public highway. We decided to clamp it as it didn't have any road tax."

"We returned to find that the chap who owned it had bumped it onto his own land and had taken a rather drastic step of using a petrol-fuelled angle grinder to cut it in half. He managed to set fire to it at the same time."

"He took it upon himself to commit a serious act of vandalism. He put himself at risk and he put other people at risk."

Hopefully there were no real emergencies occurring at the same time as this one in the area.

Source [Telegraph]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plates become the most expensive in the world

2008-05-12T06:39:00.000+01:00

Number plates become the most expensive in the world

Once again the sale of exclusive number plates has reached new levels of prestige and with this a high price has been made. Seven people from the UAE now own the seven most expensive number plates in the world.

In the United Arab Emirates city of Abu Dhabi a recent sale of exclusive number plates, all having seven, five and two digits raised money for local charities.

Even a number plate from Hong Kong which carries the number “18” was purchased by an Abu Dhabi resident for $16 million Hong Kong dollars; this has become the eighth most expensive number plate in the world.

But it was the auction in Abu Dhabi over the weekend which saw the number plate with number “9” on sold for Dh 15.4 (£2.1) million this price makes the number plate the third most expensive number plate in the world today.

Lt. Col. Abdul Rahman M. Ali Al Kamali, Director of Administration of Privatisation and Financial Investments, Ministry of Interior, said, "Last two auctions proved that our people are genuinely interested in charity,"

"An Emirati businessman in Abu Dhabi, who did not want to be named, purchased number plate 9,"

Source [Gulf News]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Permanent Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras in Manchester

2008-05-09T06:57:00.000+01:00

Permanent Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras in Manchester

The police in Manchester are introducing fixed and permanent ANPR systems around the city. The cameras read passing vehicle number plates and check them against information stored in a variety of databases, including the Police National Computer, DVLA databases and local intelligence databases.

On average the system could check around 600,000 vehicle number plates during a 24 hour period, it is hoped that by coordinating the images of the number plates with the information stored on the databases that criminals and those committing motoring offences such as driving with no insurance, road tax or even an MOT will be caught, either by patrols or by a fine sent through the post.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: “ANPR is unique in its ability to impact on crime at every level, from local volume crime through to cross border and organised crime and counter terrorism. These new fixed camera sites will bring enormous benefits to the police and aid us in protecting our communities.

“ANPR is an excellent intelligence led policing tool. The cameras that are now in place will provide police officers with an additional source of information during the vital early stages of major investigations and will also assist in our continued fight against terrorism.”

This constant increasing use of technology is not going to stop, there will come a time when these systems have become so cost effective that they will be everywhere and nobody will be able to escape even the slightest mistake, making people who have never been in trouble before fall under the gaze of the authorities.

Source [Rochdale Online]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/09052008.htm

Police check number plates at filling station

2008-05-08T07:07:00.000+01:00

Police check number plates at filling station

Police have been camping out at a BP filling station checking the number plates of cars as they pull in for fuel. Petrol stations and supermarket car parks are a good place to use the automatic number plate recognition systems, which check number plates against various databases.

But it was not just the number plates that alerted the police as many drivers were caught not wearing seat belts, speeding and other offences. The ANPR can check that a car is insured, MOT’d, taxed or indeed stolen, but it cannot check the speed of car, that’s left down to the speed cameras.

Amongst the worst driving offences are those that concern no insurance, these drivers can cause no end of trouble for other drivers and pedestrians too, although all driving offences have their own problems for all road users?

But the police were not just there to catch people, they were also offering help and advice for drivers, in fact they gave away and fitted some specially designed screws for number plates, these screws are the first line of defence against number plate thieves.

Source [Bedford Today]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/08052008.htm

When the number plate is wrong

2008-05-07T06:47:00.000+01:00

When the number plate is wrong

Drivers are used to CCTV and ANPR systems being used to track the number plates of cars that speed or parking illegally. But what happens if the number plate comes up with a name and address of a person who never owned the vehicle?

This is what has happened to mother of five, Stacy Barnes aged 30, from Barton Upon Humber. The first thing that she knew about this was when Hull City Council sent her a parking ticket for the Nissan Micra.

She had no idea what this was about and so told the council and even informed the DVLA, but instead of getting a sympathetic ear, the council wrote a letter informing her that they have passed the matter onto a debt collecting agency.

Mrs Barnes, who owns a Vauxhall Zafira, said: "It's like banging your head against a brick wall."

"I've done everything I can to try and get this sorted out."

"I've got to prove that a car I've never seen in my life is not mine. It should be up to them to prove it is mine."

"I'm starting to get really stressed about it now."

"My husband works away a lot so I'm here by myself with the children; the last thing I want is big guys turning up at my house."

"It should not be this complicated to prove it's got nothing to do with me."

A spokesman for Hull City Council said: "When issuing a parking charge notice (PCN) we relay on the owner information that is held by the DVLA to be up to date and correct so the notice goes to the right person."

"We would advise Mrs Barnes to contact the DVLA for the information to be updated, confirmation in writing of this happening will then be sent to her."

"We would then expect Mrs Barnes to submit a copy of this letter as mitigating circumstances to be considered along with her appeal against the PCN."

A spokesman said: "The DVLA takes the accuracy of its vehicle record seriously and we are very sympathetic when members of the public are inconvenienced in this way."

"I can confirm that the case is being investigated and DVLA will be contacting Mrs Barnes direct on this matter."

Sometimes the system could be wrong, but try telling them that!

Source [This is Scunthorpe]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Footballer used false number plates

2008-05-06T06:48:00.000+01:00

Footballer used false number plates

A footballer who used false number plates to avoid speeding and parking tickets has been given a suspended jail sentence. He used the number plate of a car that belonged to a retired police inspector to run up £780 worth of fines.

Liam Hebberd the son of Derby County and Southampton midfielder Trevor Hebberd, has already clocked up nine points on his driving licence, which would mean one more speeding ticket or motoring offence would see him banned from driving. So instead of driving carefully for a while, he decided that using false number plates would be a better idea.

Unfortunately for him the police had been informed by their former colleague that somebody had cloned his car number plate because he was receiving parking fines and speeding tickets, these amounted to £780.

However at the time of being stopped he had actually changed the number plates back to the original ones, but at the same time a butterfly knife was found in the car and when the police checked the car insurance, it was found that he had none either.

He was given a four month prison sentence which was suspended for a year and has been ordered to do two hundred hours of unpaid work.

Source [This is Leicestershire]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plates used to track wanted vehicles

2008-05-02T06:54:00.000+01:00

Number plates used to track wanted vehicles

With more automatic number plate recognition systems becoming available, the police are able to trace the number plates of thousands of vehicles to see if they are wanted. These systems have encouraged the theft of number plates from other vehicles.

However driving a car with a stolen or false number plate can also be picked by the new ANPR systems, being found driving a vehicle with these number plates could mean that the driver will face even greater penalties, including a trip to prison.

400 police officers took part in Operation Jaguar in Swansea, Cardiff, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Barry, Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd, South Wales was a two operation meant to find any vehicle that was wanted or that had stolen or false number plates on.

Police say that around four hundred people were arrested for various offences, which works out around twenty arrests an hour!

Chief Inspector Will Rees, who is co-ordinating the operation from police headquarters, said:

“This is a fantastic achievement for the officers involved in the operation,”

“Communities across South Wales can be reassured that, as a result of Operation Jaguar, hundreds of crimes such as burglaries, assaults and in particular drugs offences, which cause so much misery to communities, have been detected."

“This is a message to criminals that while you may think you are getting away with it, we will find out who you are and it is just a matter of time before we catch up with you.”

Automatic number plate recognition has changed the whole face of car crime and even a stolen number plate cannot save the criminals from being caught.

Source [IC Wales]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plate used as a weapon

2008-05-01T06:37:00.000+01:00

Number plate used as a weapon

Car number plates have many uses, they can help the police if the car is stolen and they can even be used for enforcing parking and traffic violations. But one woman has found a new use, as she used a number plate to launch an attack on a love rival.

The attack happened in the Reuben’s, a pub in Port Talbot, Wales, when Candice Wanklyn, 23, walked into the pub holding a car number plate, Jodie Walters-Thomas realised that there could be trouble a soon as Wanklyn approached her.

What made it worse for Walters-Thomas was that the number plate had been taken off her own car. But by before she had anytime to react, Wanklyn had used the number plate to hit her across the head.

As Walters-Thomas left the pub, she noticed that her car, a mini had been further vandalised finding scratches and dents around the bodywork.

Alistair David. Prosecuting said, "She saw the defendant walk into the pub and she was holding a vehicle number plate."

"She noticed the index number was her own. The defendant was holding it and appeared to be laughing."

"It struck her to the left side of her forehead,"

Leuan Jeffries, defending, said, "She was not thinking straight."

"It is minor in scale with regards to the ABH. This has been confirmed by the doctor."

Wanklyn who had no previous convictions was given a twelve month community order with supervision, a hundred hours of unpaid work, fined £850 for the damage to the mini and finally a £100 for the attack on Walters-Thomas.

Source [This is South Wales]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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£87 million spent on private number plates in 2007!

2008-04-30T06:35:00.000+01:00

£87 million spent on private number plates in 2007!

It would seem that before the credit crunch UK drivers spent £87 million on private number plates last year. There were some single number plates which cost as much as £250,000. But mainly the number plates were personal to the buyers.

In a report issued by the Lib Dem transport spokesman, Norman Baker, who was wondering who would be spending so much money on number plates. He suggested that it would be very interesting to find out how many of the countries MP’s actually have a private number plate on their own cars. He also added that the government are not too bothered as to who the people are that can spend huge amounts of cash on a private or personalised number plate, so long as they are raising cash for the government’s treasury.

In 1997 the amount of money raised by the DVLA was £36 million, a huge difference to the £87 million raised by the DVLA last year by selling such number plates as 51 NGH (Singh) which was sold for an amazing £245,000.

However what will be interesting are the figures for 2008, this will be a gauge as to if there is any affect by the credit crunch, or maybe people will still buy a private number plate no matter what the cost!

Source [Thai Indian News]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Police urged to use number plate website

2008-04-29T07:15:00.000+01:00

Police urged to use number plate website

A number plate reporting website owner is urging the police to use the database in order to catch bad drivers. People take the number plate of a car that is being driven badly or breaking the law in some way. The police just need to trace the number plate and catch the driver.

Betterdrivingplease.com is the creation of Andrew McGavin, 54 from Oxfordshire; he believes that the police could make use of his website to monitor those drivers who are regularly being reported for bad driving and other motoring offences.

There are around eleven thousand incidents on the website so far, which have been reported by a team of spotters who use hands free video equipment to provide proof of the claim, this stops people from just reporting someone out of spite.

Andrew McGavin, said: "It's now the norm to see dangerous driving on every journey you make. The message isn't getting through to drivers and the police aren't catching enough people."

"That's what makes a database like this necessary."

"The more reports there are on the site, the more powerful a weapon it becomes against the small minority of stupid drivers who make it dangerous for the rest of us on the roads."

"The plan is very simple. If the police take it onboard, and they build up a database of number plates of repeat offenders - as is beginning to happen on the website - then people will realise that they cannot drive with a mobile phone or tailgate and get away with it."

What if the report is wrong?

"At this stage, drivers can email saying they should not be on the site and add comments to particular incidents."

"This is not a vigilante site. It was set up to expose a problem and to ask the authorities to do something about it"

Thames Valley Police commented by saying: "We are committed to improving safety on our roads and reducing collisions and casualties."

"We have produced literature advising members of the public on how to report instances of bad driving and what information the police need to take action."

"Betterdrivingplease.com is a national website, which gives people the opportunity to report instances of what they believe to be bad driving."

"However, these reports do not usually contain the evidence necessary to bring a prosecution, and Thames Valley Police do not use the website as a matter of course when investigating incidents of bad or careless driving."

Source [Oxford Mail]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/29042008.htm

Number plate cameras in-affective, as fuel becomes scarce

2008-04-28T06:44:00.000+01:00

Number plate cameras in-affective, as fuel becomes scarce

As if the current fuel shortages are not enough, it seems that thieves are targeting petrol stations with stolen cars or with stolen numbers plates. Garages have CCTV with automatic number plate recognition systems, but are in-affective against stolen cars and number plates.

The problem is getting so bad that it has been given its own term; “Bilking” is where thieves go to the garage forecourt, fill up and drive off without paying. The fuel is then siphoned off into larger tanks where it stored and sold on to other drivers.

The theft of fuel is estimated to cost the UK around £29 million last year, which is a rise of twenty per cent, but with the current fuel problems it can only be assumed that this type of theft is going to be on the increase. It has been said that the fuel supplies are already running low due to fact that people are filling up because of the closure of the North Sea pipeline.

The CCTV systems are being upgraded to ANPR which should prevent either stolen vehicles or cars with stolen number plates on, but this would only work if the theft has been reported and the system updated. But if the number plates are stolen and used straight away, then there is little that can be done about it.

Source [Scotsman]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plate theft on the rise

2008-04-25T06:42:00.000+01:00

Number plate theft on the rise

Throughout the UK there has been a sharp rise in the amount of number plate thefts taking place, the reason is said to be the amount of speed cameras, police cars fitted with automatic number plate recognition systems and the price of fuel.

However this problem has got to such a level that many police forces are looking to clamp down on the people involved in this crime. Because it is not just the avoidance of a number plate being caught on camera, but also the other costs involved in motoring today such as, road tax, car insurance and congestion charges too.

In Essex the police are taking this seriously and have issued a booklet called “Steer clear of crime” which offers advice on how drivers can protect their property. Det Chief Insp Liam Osborne, from the Essex police force, said: "If drivers are caught using stolen plates they will be charged with handling stolen goods, which is a serious criminal offence that will lead to a fine or imprisonment."

"If drivers are also using these plates to commit other offences or avoid paying car insurance, road tax or congestion charges they are running the risk of severe penalties."

"These criminals should be aware that we will seek to prosecute on all occasions."

The police are warning anyone who is involved in this crime or thinking about getting involved should consider the consequences of their actions, as anyone found using false or stolen number plates could face very large fines and even a prison sentence.

Source [Echo]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plate cameras stop car speeders

2008-04-24T07:04:00.000+01:00

Number plate cameras stop car speeders

With the amount of speed cameras on the rise, the car number plate has become the ID for all drivers. But when it is a hire car or company car the number plate could lead the DVLA straight to the driver’s employer where more than three points is at stake.

However according to figures released by the vehicle hire firm National Car Rental, they have found that the amount of speeding fines going through their offices via the DVLA have dropped by more than half over the past year.

When a company hires a vehicle through them they are then liable for what their employee does, so if the driver is caught speeding, the number plate image is taken. But the hire company receives the first indication. They have to provide details of the company that hired the vehicle and so it is the employer who hears from the police or DVLA.

David Alexander, the operations manager for National Car Rental, said: “When you speed in a rental vehicle, the police inform the hire company via the DVLA, and it will then tell your boss. So your job could possibly be at risk.”

“The Corpor¬ate Manslaughter Act will make com¬panies liable for any deaths caused by its employees, so it’s ensuring busi¬nesses are more anxious about their drivers’ behaviour,”

This also applies to parking tickets, congestion charges and other motoring offences such as using a mobile phone and not wearing a seat belt. However, clearly the message is getting across to these drivers as the figures show.

Source [Auto Express]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/24042008.htm

Number plates from 1 to 999 will be auctioned

2008-04-23T06:42:00.000+01:00

Number plates from 1 to 999 will be auctioned

A rare chance to get a number plate with the single number 1 on will happen when car owners in Massachusetts, in the US get the chance to buy at the state number plate auction in July. These number plates are being auctioned to raise funds for charities.

Although the prospect of owning the number plate with the single digit 1 on is going to be the most popular choice for some drivers, it is bound to be the one which costs the most. However there are a whole host of other number combinations to choose from right up to 999, which is a great number plate for a police car or in the states 911, would do too!

Paul Rumul, Chairman of the Cape & Islands License Plate Committee, said: “We’re thrilled to finally make these low numbered plates available to the public,”

“Every plate sold helps support tourism and economic development here on Cape Cod. And it’s a wonderful way for people to display their love of the Cape, whether they’re year-round residents or occasional visitors. We know that people have been eagerly awaiting the chance to get their hands on these plates.”

"The Cape and Islands plate is beautiful and consistently ranks as the RMV’s most popular special plate,” said Registrar Anne L. Collins. “Add the opportunity to get this plate with a low number and you’ve got a winning fundraiser that will benefit the residents and businesses of Cape Cod and the islands.”

This is another example where a number plate organisation is selling exclusive number plates, but instead of the money going into the governments pockets the proceeds are going to good causes.

Source [Cape Cod Today]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/23042008.htm

Illegal number plates means trip to court

2008-04-22T07:17:00.000+01:00

Illegal number plates means trip to court

Police are warning drivers that illegal number plates and faults on their cars will mean that they are looking at a trip to court. A number plate is illegal when any of the digits have been altered, this could be spacing or font to make the number plate look like a word or anagram.

The police say that it is not just the car number plate that could lead them to being stopped and checked, there are other things that they look out for such as, darkened windows, illegal number plates and additional lights, such as neon’s and LED's. But there are faults that often mean the driver being issued with a notice through the Vehicle Defect Rectification Scheme (VDRS). These are faulty exhausts, broken screen washing system or windscreen wipers, broken lights and petrol caps and damaged bodywork.

Durham Police's casualty reduction officer, Pc Dave Nixon, said: "This has never been about punishing the motorist. It’s actually giving the motorist a good chance to make sure their car is roadworthy."

"If you're stopped for an offence and get your certificate of rectification, your car is still running and nothing more is done about it."

"If you don't comply, you're an idiot because it will be dealt with through the courts."

"People think they can get away with it."

"But general standard of vehicles that are on the road now is quite high. There's a lot more new cars on the road and there's a lot more new second hand cars available."

"It's a help to motorists because things can go wrong on cars and it might be something you've not picked up on your weekly check of your car."

Last year the north east area covered by Pc Nixon there were nearly 780 VDRS notices issued to drivers who fell foul of the faults and problems listed earlier?

Source [Sunderland Echo]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plates details used by the US

2008-04-21T06:47:00.000+01:00

Number plates details used by the US

Number plates and personal details of drivers who happen to drive past a roadside camera, which takes an image of the cars number plate, may be surprised to find, that their details are being monitored by the US authorities, and other security agencies from around the world.

In a document that mentioned the UK anti terrorism police were able to access the cameras used for the London congestion charge in real time, failed to mention that information gained from this surveillance could also be sent out to external security services such as those in the US.

The document introduced by the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, it states: "The certificate relates to the processing of the images taken by the camera, personal data derived from the images, including vehicle registration mark, date, time and camera location."

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "This confirms that this Government is happy to hand over potentially huge amounts of information on British citizens under the catch-all pretext of 'national security'."

Gus Hosein, from Privacy International, said "he was making a complaint to the information commissioner having obtained a copy of the certificate."

A home office spokesman said, "We would like to reassure the public that robust controls have been put in place to control and safeguard access to, and use of, the information."

This could mean that anyone’s details picked up by a number plate camera could end up in front of someone abroad who are looking to prevent terrorist attacks, even though they are just going to work, making the school run or simply going out shopping.

Source [Telegraph]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/21042008.htm

Number plates stolen from hospital car park

2008-04-18T07:09:00.000+01:00

Number plates stolen from hospital car park

Doctors and nurses at a hospital have been targeted by number plate thieves. The police have been called in to help after a number of car number plates were stolen from the cars owned by doctors and nurses who work at the King George Hospital in Goodmayes near Barking.

The police were called to offer help and advice to the Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Hospitals Trust. But back in February Sgt Michael Black actually criticised the way that the car park was covered by security cameras and bad lighting.

Sgt Michael Black, of the Seven Kings Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: "Plates have been disappearing. It has always been a major problem across the borough, but now more than ever, in the hospital car park."

"They have repaired a camera, but it only covers part of the car park so it is not very efficient, and it is never manned, so it is pretty useless.

"The screws are very effective and protect plates from being taken."

"We spent about two-and-a-half hours at King George Hospital and the majority of staff came to see us and get their plates fixed."

A Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Hospitals Trust spokesperson said: "it had not been made aware of number plates being taken."

"As has been previously explained, plans have been drawn up to improve security in the car park at King George Hospital,"

"A full business case has been put together and this has been put forward to the board."

"This business case includes funding for security staff to man the CCTV cameras 24-hours-a-day."

This is a growing problem which is said to reflect the price in fuel prices, congestion charges and the amount of ANPR and speed cameras that have appeared monitoring the road networks of the UK.

Source [BD Recorder]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plate sells for £27,500!

2008-04-17T06:59:00.000+01:00

Number plate sells for £27,500!

The DLVA held a number plate auction with a Welsh theme and the star number plate was WEL 5H (WELSH) which had a reserve price of £3,000, but was actually sold for an amazing £27,500. The buyer was a Welsh businessman, who paid in total £34,400 for the patriotic number plate.

Other Welsh themed number plates included: BAN 9OR (Bangor), CLW 7D (Clwyd), NEA 7H (Neath), and C7 MRU (Cymru) which sold for a “hammer price” of £5,000.

Damian Lawson, a marketing manager for the DVLA, said: “The first day of the auction has gone really well.

“The big one was the WEL 5H number plate which went to a businessman who wants to remain anonymous.

“He is something of an expat; he lives in Oxford but he is Welsh and is celebrating Wales winning the Grand Slam by buying that number plate.

“He was very pleased to land it and said it was the first time he had spent more than £34,000 before 9am!”

“To be honest we thought it would go for something like £10,000 so it has gone for a lot more than we expected."

“The reserve was set at £3,000, but sometimes you have to use a sprat to catch a mackerel.”

"The popularity of personalised number plates just keeps increasing,"

"While the price of a car can only go down as it depreciates, their number plate can keep its value."

"I think we are also seeing some people buying these plates as a long-term investment,"

This was a great opportunity for Welsh number plate fans to show off their patriotic love of Wales and show off their success by having the prestigious number plates on their cars.

Source [IC Wales]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plates used against tax dodgers

2008-04-16T07:00:00.000+01:00

Number plates used against tax dodgers

Despite the huge increase in automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera systems, which read a cars number plate and can immediately determine if the vehicle is taxed and insured, there are still an estimated two million or more untaxed vehicles on the roads of the UK.

The amount of untaxed vehicles has gradually risen over the last seven years or so by a huge sixty three per cent. But at the same time the amount of successful prosecutions has almost gone down by around fifty per cent over the same period.

Conservative transport spokeswoman Theresa Villers, said: “Rogue drivers without tax or insurance are a menace to other road users. The direct result of Labour’s incompetence in dealing with rogue drivers is that our roads are more dangerous.”

The governments own figures show that in 1999 there were around 1.3 million untaxed vehicles on the road, yet by 2006 this has risen to 2.1 million. While those drivers caught either through their number plates showing up or by other means has fallen from 204,606 to 103,108 over the same period.

The government are looking to change the law to allow the DVLA and Police to check the number plates of cars that are off the road, yet it would seem that those who are considered to be persistent offenders are likely to be off the ANPR radar.

Source [Autocar]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

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Number plate website catches bad drivers

2008-04-15T07:12:00.000+01:00

Number plate website catches bad drivers

New website set up to catch drivers behaving badly, they ask for members of the public to report the number plates of these drivers, where it is then hoped that the authorities will check out the number plates of the cars that have been reported for bad driving.

This website allows the anonymous reporting of any driving that is considered to be dangerous to other road users, speeding, using mobile phones and anything else which could be considered as bad driving practices or just plain dangerous.

English Criminal Law Dangerous Driving Definition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_dangerous_driving

A person is to be regarded as driving dangerously if and only if: (a) the way he drives falls far below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver; and (b) it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in that way would be dangerous.

About BetterDrivingPlease.com, "We are building a transparent 'resource' for others, Police and insurers, to compare their records against. By our joint action we are helping to make our localities a happier, safer place to live in."

"Please JOIN US, tell your friends - start reporting number plates NOW."

Clearly there is a need for the authorities to be careful here, as there could be an element of reporting which could be considered as bogus, where people reporting others that they do not like or have a grievance against.

Although the website does have a section where video can be uploaded, and this should be good evidence of bad driving and as long as there is a good image of the number plate then those drivers could be dealt with.

Source [Kent Online]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/15042008.htm

Number plate catches YouTube driver antics

2008-04-14T07:00:00.000+01:00

Number plate catches YouTube driver antics

Leaving your number plate clearly visible while performing stunts on a video posted on YouTube is fairly stupid these days. As the authorities only need to run the number plate through the system and the owner’s details become available.

But this is exactly what one Australian driver has done and he has not only been traced by the police in the area where the stunts were performed, but has embarrassingly become the butt for many comments from users of YouTube who feel that he should have covered the number plate or even used some spray which makes the number plate unreadable by cameras.

YouTube users had a fair amount to say about the video:

``Take da plates off or at least blur it out . . . still laughing on how f----- dumb u can get,"

``Anybody who has half a brain would cover up their number plates and not blurt out where it was taken,'' the user wrote.

``Yes, I have and still do that s---, but I'm not stupid enough to a. film it and b. have my face and plates for all the cops too see.''

``Shut ya f----- mouth u dumb c---s you r not talking to the owner this is not his account and he has paid his rego so f--- up!''

``We all make mistakes and u all no it was a good drift and if u think ur better then f----- show me instead of talken urself up. NOT A P PLATER!''

Spokesman from the local police dept, Sen Sgt Shane Coles, had these comments to make:

``I think it is terrible. Anything could have happened while they were doing that.''

``There's a few offences there, from crossing double lines to dangerous driving,''

Of course naturally driving like this is not recommended as well as posting your exploits on a popular website that is used by millions of people.

Source [Geelong Advertiser]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/14042008.htm

Special number plates go under the hammer

2008-04-11T07:08:00.000+01:00

Special number plates go under the hammer

Yet another personalised number plate auction is taking place today in Abu Dhabi. Among the number plates on offer are the numbers 6 and 430. The number plate 430 should be of special interest to those Ferrari F430 owners who no doubt will be at the auction.

The auctions are all for a good cause too, in fact to date they have raised nearly fifty million pounds for charities, which include an emergency and trauma car centre for victims of road accidents.

Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, said, "It is all for a good cause and people love to give to local charities, the director said. To date, more than $100 million (Dh367m) has been raised from the sale of 583 plates in seven auctions, with proceeds going towards building a world-class emergency and trauma care centre for victims of road accidents and other debilitating conditions"

Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Rahman Al Kamali, Director of the Privatisation and Investment Department at Abu Dhabi Police, said, "Number six is the fourth single-digit number to go under the hammer by Abu Dhabi Police, and number 430 is a luxury plate, perfect for the front of a Ferrari F430"

"We expect more than Dh10 million for number 6 because number 7 sold for Dh 11 million"

This is a great way of raising funds for local charities, which actually benefit many people and not just the few. Other number plates that will be sold are 36, 57, 86, 696 and 1991, this series of auctions has been entered into the Guinness Book of Records for selling the top seven most expensive number plates.

Source [Gulf News]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/11042008.htm

Greens want new style number plates

2008-04-10T07:11:00.000+01:00

Greens want new style number plates

The Green party in Ireland have come up with a unique way to revise the number plate system. They propose that because a 08 number plate holds so much prestige that by changing the year to an energy rating for the vehicle. This would mean the number plate would have a figure instead of a number.

They believe that by removing the year from a number plate would actually change the status of people who feel that they need to have the latest model or year. But instead would have the energy rating in its place, this would help people see immediately what tax bracket the car is in and how green it is.

Mary White, the Green Party TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, said "A change to the registration plates would remove the status attached to purchasing new cars."

‘‘There’s so much status attached to an 08 car. But if we remove the date and replace it with an energy efficiency rating of the vehicle, then we would reduce the pressure to sell old but efficient cars, and promote the purchase of new cars that are fuel-efficient,”

‘‘cleverly calibrated as a useful gauge of fuel-efficiency’’

However there could be problems with this, as without the year on the number plate there would not be any way of knowing how old the car is, as this would only be available on the registration papers. This may cause problems for some second hand car buyers later on.

Source [SB Post]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/10042008.htm

Number plates stolen as fuel prises rise

2008-04-09T07:15:00.000+01:00

Number plates stolen as fuel prises rise

Stolen number plates are being used by thieves to obtain petrol; they are filling up at service stations and are then driving off without paying. The CCTV has an image of the cars number plate, but this is not the one that belongs to that particular car!

Another trend is the theft of catalytic converters, sometimes when the car is parked overnight in the owners drive. These do contain some precious metals and has a scrap price of around £50, but the replacement cost for the owner can be anything between £300 and £600!

Sergeant Trish Reeve-Fowkes said, "All we can do is warn the public to be on their guard. One trick is to superglue your number plate bolts in place. This gives some degree of security."

Inspector Scott the Bexhill Neighbourhood Policing Team commander, said: "We are getting reports of catalytic converters being cut from vehicles and being sold for their scrap value. They contain precious meals and are currently fetching about £50."

A motor trade spokesman, said, "Catalytic converters are currently hot property!"

"Scrap metal prices in general have rocketed and these things contain precious metals, like titanium."

"But the cost of replacing a catalytic converter for a car today can be anything from £300 to £600."

"All scrap values are going up. Old alternators are fetching big money because of the copper wire in them. Aluminium prices have gone through the roof. We loaned a 4x4 as a courtesy car. The customer phoned in to say that a warning light had come on to say it was permanently in two-wheel drive."

"When we got it back someone had unbolted the aluminium propeller shaft and stolen that!"

"They cost £1,500 to replace."

Source [Rye and Battle Observer]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/09042008.htm

Cloned number plates could be as high as 100,000

2008-04-08T12:08:00.000+01:00

Cloned number plates could be as high as 100,000

It has been estimated that the criminal gangs involved in cloning cars and number plates could be making as much as £3 billion per year. This why a new campaign has been started to warn buyers of used cars to be very careful when looking at cars that could be cloned, as there are some signs to look out for.

With a growing number of car number plates being stolen in all areas, it is relatively easy to obtain the VIN number from the windows of the car and with these details the cloning can be begin. It has been estimated by mycarcheck.com that there could be around 100,000 cloned cars on the road today, of these around 25,000 could be highly dangerous cars being put back onto the UK’s roads.

The General Manager of mycarcheck.com, Roger Powell, said, "Car cloning is big business and often the proceeds from such crimes are used by organised gangs to finance drugs deals, human trafficking and even terrorism,"

"Often the first victims know they have been cloned is when they start getting fines for offences they never committed or worse they are involved in an accident.

"A car may look alright but if it has been written-off or stolen then insurance companies may not pay out if it is ever involved in another claim."

"Displaying vehicle identification numbers on car windscreens is akin to leaving a credit card in the middle of the street with its pin number on the back,"

"Perhaps the time has come for the motor manufacturers and the government to review the policy and move the vehicle identification numbers inside vehicles to make it more difficult for thieves to get the information."

Buyers of used cars are urged to check the vehicles history, because if the car has been cloned it may not be safe to drive as they may think and also they could end up losing out financially too.

Source [Motors Today]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/08042008.htm

106 year old Peugeot with private number AO1 passes MOT

2008-04-07T07:12:00.000+01:00

106 year old Peugeot with private number AO1 passes MOT

It was first registered in and indeed the first car to get a number plate in Cumbria, but now the 1902 Peugeot which carries the car registration number AO1 is up for sale and for anyone worried about its condition it recently passed the MOT first time!

When it was new the car cost a mere £185, but the car and the prestigious number plate are expected to fetch around £150,000 if the right buyers are at the auction. This is a rare opportunity for someone to buy a one owner car from this period and a rare number plate too, it is hoped that the two will remain together, but the number itself could fetch anything between £60,000 and £150,000, which could prove too tempting for the family who own it.

A spokesperson from the family, said, “It passed with flying colours. The last time it was driven was before MOTs came in.”

“We’ve thought long and hard about it. It’s only been over the last year we’ve become aware what it is worth.

“We saw an article in The Cumberland News about a family from Appleby who had two veteran cars – one sold for £70,000. We’ve just kept it under a blanket in the garage.”

“A magazine said that after years of a happy marriage it would be a shame to force a divorce,” said the family member.

“Since we put it up for sale we’ve had all sorts of things come out of the woodwork – people have sent in photos and information about seeing it.”

If there is anyone who is interested in this auction, they are requested to register interest in the car or number plate by calling Gavin McGuire on 01892 770310.

Source [Cumberland News]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/07042008.htm

Number plates used to catch criminals

2008-04-04T07:20:00.000+01:00

Number plates used to catch criminals

UK authorities use number plate reading technology to catch criminals, as technology advances it is getting more difficult for criminals to use the roads. Their vehicle number plate is the gateway for agencies to check up on the vehicle and the person driving it.

More and more joint operations are being mounted nationwide by the Police, DVLA, HM Customs and Excise, the Environment Agency and even the Immigration service, and any vehicle stopped can expect to be thoroughly checked over and the driver’s details will also be investigated. This means that anyone who is wanted by any police force or another agency has little chance of getting away with it.

Chief Insp Ian Copus said: "Generally drivers have been very supportive of the operation and some have even thanked us for being stopped.

"With the new technology we can make sure that there is a reason to stop people, even if that reason is a minor one.

"This is a good use of resources and is very effective in dealing with criminality."

Supt Tony Godwin, Head of Operations for Gloucestershire Police said: "This is unprecedented in bringing together police forces.

"We can flag up a driver here who may have an offence in Manchester, for example, and pass that data on to them.

"With the increases in technology we are making it harder and harder for the criminals."

In addition to the technology already mentioned, there is a new system being tested which could prevent a terrorist attack, the Ion Track Itemiser can detect explosives!

Source [Swindon Advertiser]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/04042008.htm

Number plate businesses under scrutiny

2008-04-03T06:55:00.000+01:00

Number plate businesses under scrutiny

The replacement number plate industry can expect to be visited by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and possibly the police when they begin to make surprise visits to make sure that they are conducting their businesses in accordance to the regulations.

When a vehicle owner wants to replace one or both of the number plates on their vehicle there are various checks that need to be made in order to prevent number plate fraud and car cloning. The owner will need to produce proof that they own that particular vehicle and the business is required to keep their record up to date.

Mike Owen, the RMIF’s Head of Aftermarket, commented: ‘Since 2001, businesses have been required by law to keep records of number plate sales. To prevent the cloning of vehicle identities for criminal purposes, only those in possession of the correct documentation are permitted to purchase a replacement number plate for a vehicle. To avoid punitive action being taken against them, businesses must make sure that they take the proper details, and keep records.’

Documents that can be accepted to confirm identity are:

Driving licence
Utility bill issued within the last 6 months
Bank or building society statement
Passport (whether issued or not in the United Kingdom)
National identity card (non-UK nationals only)
Debit or credit card issued by a bank or building society
Police warrant card
Armed forces identity card

The documents to establish entitlement to the registration mark are:

Vehicle Registration Certificate (V5C)
Certificate of entitlement to a mark (V750)
Cherished transfer retention document (V778)
Vehicle Licence renewal form (V11)
Temporary registration certificate (V379)
Authorisation Certificate (V948) with official DVLA stamp
Letter of authorisation from a fleet operator (including lease/hire company). The letter must quote the document reference number from the V5C.

Source [Easier]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, rare number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/03042008.htm

Cars with foreign number plates cause buyers problems

2008-04-02T07:04:00.000+01:00

Cars with foreign number plates cause buyers problems

There has been an increase in the amount of car with foreign number plates that are being sold in the UK; these cars are causing buyers problems. Any car that is in the UK for more than six months should legally be registered to UK number plates, however this is not happening.

There is a huge black market of foreign registered cars which come from Poland, Bulgaria and France, these cars are thought to be used by people who wish to avoid being caught on camera, as the number plates show that they are registered abroad and so no action is taken.

There are also concerns that these car are not up to the standards required in the UK either, as many would not pass an MOT, some are totally uninsurable and there is also the possibility that either the car or the number plates have been stolen, there is not easy way for an ordinary motorist to check this.

Kieren Puffett, editor of Parker’s, said: “The Government has trouble putting a figure on how many immigrants there are in the UK, so it’s hardly surprising it can’t tell us how many illegal foreign cars there are here. The Government needs to take action now to start recording details as cars enter the country and get offending cars off our roads.”

He added: “Many owners of these cars will be thinking ‘What’s the point of registering a car with the DVLA?’, when there’s little chance that they will be caught out. Anyone stopped by the police can claim that the car has been in the UK for less than six months – there’s no evidence to prove otherwise. These cars should be seized and taken off our streets.”

Source [Easier]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/02042008.htm

Number plates used in parking enforcement

2008-04-01T07:11:00.000+01:00

Number plates used in parking enforcement

From now on local authorities will be using CCTV to capture the number plates of drivers who fail to take notice of the local parking restrictions. No longer will drivers know that they have been caught by finding a parking ticket on their windscreens. As their number plates will be used to automatically issue tickets through the post.

This system has been used in London for some time, but this is the first time that all local authorities can now use sophisticated CCTV systems instead of using the traditional method of using parking attendants to find cars that are illegally parked and issuing a parking ticket.

Although this is not the end of the parking attendant as they will now have the additional power of just writing the ticket, before they had to physically attach the ticket to the car, this is not the case now. This new system will mean that there will be a marked increase in the amount of parking tickets issued, so whereas before it was possible to drop someone off or quickly park and get back in the car and drive off before the parking attendant arrived will be a thing of the past as the CCTV can issued a ticket automatically.

This has raised fears that there will be an increase in number plate thefts and even more worrying number plate cloning in an attempt to avoid being caught by the CCTV.

Source [Autocar]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/01042008.htm

Number plates used to stop crime

2008-03-31T07:16:00.000+01:00

The police are using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to stop law breakers from using the roads. These hi tech cameras read a vehicles number plate and check it against various government databases in seconds in order to see if the car and driver are legal.

In an operation that took place in Hampshire see over five hundred and fifty cars stopped, and eighteen people arrested over a two week period. The police have been using this equipment which consists of two roof mounted cameras which face both ways in order to make sure that no suspect vehicle escapes.

Sergeant Spencer Wragg, who led the team, said: "ANPR is such a good tool for us to use. We stopped just over 500 vehicles during the operation and each camera would have read about 7,000 to 8,000 number plates a day."

"One of the arrests came about as the car came up as having no insurance. We stopped the driver and found he was wanted for three outstanding offences from a long time ago.

"We had another car that came up as stolen. We arrested the driver and found out the passenger was also wanted in London."

"The only vehicles that get highlighted to us on the system are vehicles that are either uninsured, have no tax or have some other police report or interest in them.

"The DVLA does its own tax enforcement, but what we find is that if people aren't willing to pay for their tax disc, they are quite often those who may be wanted in relation to other offences.

"The only people who should be concerned by the cameras are those who are breaking the law to some degree, whether it's having no tax disc or something more serious."

However it was not just serious offences that got drivers into trouble, there were also drivers fined for using mobile phones, and for not wearing a seat belt, but contrary to public belief this camera system does not have the capability to check the vehicles speed.

Source [This is Hampshire]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/31032008.htm

Speeding cars number plates cannot be read

2008-03-28T07:14:00.000Z

Speeding cars number plates cannot be read

For some drivers it must be dream come true, where drivers who use the fast lane of a busy stretch of road can actually go as fast as they like without the fear that there number plate will be photographed and a fine issued, this is despite there being a speed camera system in operation.

The problem with this stretch of road is the simple fact that the positioning of the speed cameras means that they can only cover the first three lanes of the four lane road. The road in case anyone is interested is the Mile End Road, as its approaches the M275 in Portsmouth. This road has a speed limit of 40 mph, but anyone using the fast lane can if they want go faster than that.

Hampshire's Safer Roads Partnership spokesman Julian Hewitt said: 'It is to do with the angle which would be too acute to read number plates. We could have placed a camera on the central reservation but this poses a health and safety hazard for the camera technician and road users.'

Mr Hewitt said "there had been a 69 per cent reduction in collisions causing injury at Mile End Road when compared to the three years before the camera was installed."

Portsmouth South MP Mike Hancock added: 'I am surprised. I always thought it did cover that lane.

'I hope that they are now going to adjust it.'

Clearly this is not going to continue, but it is interesting to find out that not all speed cameras cover all of the road all of the time, we wonder where else this occurs.

Source [Portsmouth]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years.
They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/28032008.htm

New ANPR for bike number plates

2008-03-27T06:50:00.000Z

New ANPR for bike number plates

Ever since the introduction of speed cameras bikers have been getting away with being caught simply because a bike has no front facing number plate. This means that even the new sophisticated ANPR cameras are unable to check the number plate against the DVLA database that is until now!

A new type of camera system is being used which has multi angled cameras, these can read the number plate at the side and the rear of a bike, meaning that the days of them getting away with being caught speeding or without road tax, mot or insurance have gone.

Norfolk Safety Camera Partnership manager, John Fairey said: “One incident was a motorcyclist travelling at 79pm in a 40mph area at about 9.30 am outside Rollesby school. The other was a motorcycle travelling at 137mph on the A148 at Hillington near King's Lynn.”

“We are keen to educate motorcyclists to make them safer on roads, and to educate other drivers about motorcyclists.

“This new equipment will put motorcycles on a level footing with car drivers, whereas previously we have had difficulty in identifying motorcyclists because they don't have front number plates.

“With these new cameras we can film back, front and sideways. If you take the cost of a human life to be £1.3m, then the new equipment, at £26,000 each, costs 2pc of a life.

“The new cameras will also be able to catch tailgating car drivers, who have been able to get away with speeding if they have been driving too close to cars in front.”

Source [Evening News 24]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/27032008.htm

Foreign number plates avoid ANPR

2008-03-26T07:08:00.000Z

Foreign number plates avoid ANPR

Drivers who have top of the range cars believe that they are less likely to be stopped, but ANPR only checks the number plate of the car and not the year, make or model. This had lead to a huge increase in car being seized by the Police and DVLA.

There used to be a feeling that old cheap cars and new top of the range cars where less likely to be stopped by the authorities, and so this lead to a practice of these cars being untaxed, uninsured and in some cases with no MOT. But technology has changed all of that so any car that does not have the full requirements of being on the road is running the risk of being caught.

Last year over 150,000 cars were seized by the police and DVLA which is double on the previous year. But in an attempt to avoid these cameras it has been found that there are an increasing amount of cars that are sporting foreign number plates as these are believed to be immune from fines etc.

AA president Edmund King said: “Some motorists feel that driving a top of the range car means they are less likely to be stopped. This may have been true a few years ago but the camera does not discriminate.

“However, some villains are trying to stay one step ahead of the chase by using foreign number plates to try to avoid detection.

“We need to increase the checks on foreign registered vehicles - plates from a left-hand drive eastern European country on a right-hand drive car is often a sign.”

Source [Shropshire Star]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/26032008.htm

Personalised Number Plates annoy other drivers

2008-03-25T06:58:00.000Z

Personalised Number Plates annoy other drivers

There are many things that annoy drivers on the UK roads but it is very surprising to find that in a survey conducted by GMTV, car with private number plates is the second most irritating to those who were surveyed.

It seems strange that out of all of the things that are happening around you whilst driving, that a car with a personalised number plate comes just below those drivers who are sporting a “Baby on Board” sign in their back window. Just imagine how these drivers would feel if the owner of that car had a personalised number plate too?

It has to be a sign of the times that such little matters can cause such annoyance and irritation, when there is so many other things that driver’s do that can be dangerous.

The top five most irritating car modifications were:

1. Baby-on-board signs
2. Personalised number plates
3. Car flags
4. Cheesy name stickers
5. Oversized fenders or body kits

What are the top 10 driving annoyances?

1. Slow-moving caravans
2. Motorbike convoys causing queues
3. Motorists chatting on their mobile phone while driving
4. Slow drivers
5. Drivers throwing litter out of their vehicle
6. Drivers blaring out loud music
7. Getting cut up by other drivers
8. Motorists driving over the speed limit
9. Aggressive drivers
10. Posers driving with their sun roof down in cold weather

Of course there are probably many drivers who tick all of the boxes above all at the same time, and during the rush nobody would ever want to be in their shoes!

Source [GMTV]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/25032008.htm

Number plates leave drivers confused

2008-03-20T07:05:00.000Z

Number plates leave drivers confused

In a new piece of research carried out by the motor loans and insurance business AA Personal Loans, it has been found that around fifty per cent of UK drivers cannot tell the year of a car by the new style number plates.

This could have other problems for drivers too, because there is an on going police and DVLA operation that is seeking out cars that have had their number plates altered to produce words etc, as it is an offence to alter the spacing of the letters and numbers on a number plate. It is believed that if drivers do not recognise that alteration, they are running the risk of being pulled up.

Yet these new style number plates have been around for some seven years now, the first cars being those registered in 2001 with numbers being 51. However it does seem that drivers who passed their driving test after the new style number plates came out are in fact more likely to understand the system more than those who passed before the new system was introduced.

This years 08 number plates appear to be the ones which are going to confuse drivers more than ever, in the survey these number plates are most likely to cause confusion September ’08 were SE08 FLG (11%), SP08 GDH (11%), RO88 UHL (2%) and SP85 JGH (2%). People planning on buying a car that is 08 registered should make sure that they understand the new number plate numbering system beforehand.

Source [Easier]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/20032008.htm

Number plate cameras raise £100 million

2008-03-19T06:58:00.000Z

Number plate cameras raise £100 million

No matter what drivers think about having their number plates being caught on camera when they driver over the speed limits in certain areas, this technology has managed to raise well over £100 million during the period of 2006 to 2007.

It is drivers in London who are either the worst at keeping within the speed limits or just plain unlucky that they are happening to be going over the limit just at the point where a speed camera is ready and waiting to get their number plates and start the process of sending out a fine to the registered owner of the vehicle.

The worst places are as we said London who driver paid out £7.5 million, Mid and South Wales paid £5.9 million and Thames Valley where the figure is just £4.5 million. However at the other end of the scale it is the drivers in Gloucestershire whose number plates are coming up less, with drivers there paying out only £724,860.

A DfT spokeswoman said: 'Safety cameras are there to save lives, not make money. Independent research has shown there are 1745 fewer deaths and serious injuries at camera sites each year.'

'Drivers without a licence, insurance or tax are four to five times more likely to be involved in an accident - they should be the top priority for the police.'

Yet there are still questions regarding this practice of taking a photo of someone’s number plate and contacting them later regarding the matter, and what happens the to money. Of the £104.4 million raised, only £6.4 million goes on operating the system, leaving a healthy profit.

Source [What Car]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/19032008.htm

Grim reaper on number plates

2008-03-18T07:04:00.000Z

Grim reaper on number plates

An undertaker from Scotland who has the angel of death carrying a scythe and a briefcase printed onto his personalised number plate, has caused a bit of an uproar with some people taking offence to the number plate, while others see the funny side of it.

He sees it as a light hearted way of going about his business, which at time can get people down.

Les Boyce, 33, of John Roach Funeral Services in Johnstone, Scotland, said, "My son-in-law gave me the plates a few weeks ago and I put them on as a joke.

"It's not as if it was a picture of a skull and crossbones. Everyone who knows me will know the image on my registration plate wasn't ever meant to be serious."

"If I didn't have a sense of humour I'd go off my head."

"The last thing I want to do is cause offence and I apologise if I have upset anyone.

"It wasn't my intention to cause harm or grief. It was meant as a light-hearted joke."

However there is a concern that the people that he visits to arrange the funeral details might be offended by the number plate, but it has to be said that are they really going to be taking any notice of what is on an undertaker’s number plate?

Source [Sunday Mail]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/18032008.htm

Blue Badge scheme revised

2008-03-17T07:00:00.000Z

17th March 2008 – Blue Badge scheme revised

From now on it seem that all blue badges, the scheme that allows disabled drivers or passengers to park up in certain places without the fear of getting a parking fine or their car number plate scanned and photographed.

This scheme has come under fire recently as it appears to have broken down, with claims of fraud, where the blue badge has either been stolen or even copied; this would then be used by drivers to take advantage of the free parking facilities or other benefits of using this system.

The new blue badge will given to the user inside a tamper proof laminated wallet, which it is believed will prevent any attempt to open it up and change the details on the actual blue badge. The strange thing is about the older style blue badge is that no details are on it, it could the car registration number or even details of the holder. But the new one will address this concern by containing a new hologram and a serial number that will allow the authorities to tell if the holder is male or female.

'We welcome all views about how the scheme could be made more secure and better policed against the cheats who steal, forge or misuse the badge,' said Transport Minister Rosie Winterton.

But there are no specific details coming out yet, only that the government are asking people to report those drivers who are abusing the system.

Source [What Car]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the personalised number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/17032008.htm

UK governments U turn on number plates

2008-03-14T06:54:00.000Z

UK governments U turn on number plates

The UK government are being accused of breaking an agreement made six years ago which would allow drivers from Wales to place the welsh flag on their car number plates. This would be similar to the ones that are seen with various European flags on before the actual number and letters on the car number plate.

In order to highlight this Plaid Cymru AM Janet Ryder has taken the steps to bring this to the attention of a wider audience by starting an online petition, this is calling for the UK government to bring out the legislation that will allow drivers to display a national flag on their car registration number plate.

This petition is available at http://www.numberplates.plaidcymru.org

The more people that sign this petition the more chance there will be that the UK government will begin to take notice and carry out their promise to bring this into force.

Janet Ryder, Plaid Cymru's North Wales AM, said:

"Labour's transport minister promised back in 2001 to make flying the flag for Wales on your number plate legal. That promise has never been honoured - another example of broken promises from a London government.

"Meanwhile, Welsh people are being warned by garages that putting the Welsh dragon on their number plates is illegal. The UK government should act immediately to make right its broken promise."

Source [Plaid Cymru]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/14032008.htm

08 number plate cars are going green

2008-03-13T07:08:00.000Z

08 number plate cars are going green

Its seems that even before the Chancellors budget speech that there has been a trend for new car purchases to green, with three out of five cars with the new 08 number plate being one of the many green cars that are available at the moment.

With data compiled by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) they show that during 2007 there were 128,646 band B cars sold, these produce less than 120 g/Km of Co2. This amount of green cars sold is a massive twenty per cent increase on the year before.

The best-selling low CO2 cars:

Make/model Engines Sales (2007)

Peugeot 107 1.0 petrol 15,333
Ford Fiesta 1.4 diesel 14,784
Toyota Aygo 1.0 petrol 14,172
Citroen C1 1.0 petrol, 1.4 diesel 12,626
Peugeot 207 1.4 diesel, 1.6 diesel 11,830
Toyota Prius 1.5 petrol 8,755
Renault Clio 1.5 diesel 5,230
Toyota Yaris 1.4 diesel 5,173
Volkswagen Polo 1.4 diesel 4,436
MINI Cooper D 1.6 diesel 4,192

It is not just a sense of being green that is motivating the 08 number plate car owners to turn to green machines, there is also the cost of fuel, congestion charges and other taxes that encourage people to drive green.

Source [Auto Express]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/13032008.htm

2008-03-12T06:48:00.000Z

Number plate reading cameras to be replaced

The number plate camera system used for the London congestion charge is going to be scrapped in favour of a new tag system. These plans have been put forward by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone as part of his transport manifesto for the mayoral election. Which states: ‘A new, hassle-free system for paying the congestion charge, so that drivers can choose to have payments automatically debited when they enter the charging zone, avoiding fines for simply forgetting to pay the charge.’

It is believed that Transport for London have already agreed with computer giant IBM for a new tag and beacon system, which uses a pre-pay card system which is placed inside the car on the windscreen. As the car passes the beacons the charge is automatically deducted. This is similar to what is being used in many other countries for the same purpose.

At the moment the cost of running the congestion charge system has barely broken even, with the costs in running the charge taking around £151 million, virtually all of the income from the charge. The only saving grace is the fact that the fines resulting from the cameras that take a picture of the cars number plates has made sure that the system makes a profit.

Source [Autocar]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/12032008.htm

Police get new traffic technology

2008-03-11T07:08:00.000Z

11th March 2008 – Police get new traffic technology

Following a series of trails with eleven forces, the new advanced GPS based equipment that will help the police manage traffic and help with the tailbacks that can occur after a serious road traffic accidents, will be gradually rolled out around the country.

The equipment which has a cost of around £2.5 million will allow the police to ease the congestion caused by an accident and also help manage the scene by creating a virtual map of the area. It is hoped that the equipment will allow the roads to open up much sooner than before and stop the huge tail backs that have been known to happen on busy roads.

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said: "This is an excellent example of the Highways Agency and the police working together to benefit motorists. The police have important work to do after a serious accident. This new kit will make the work quicker and easier and get people moving again much sooner."

Stephen Green, Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police and head of roads policing for the Association of Chief Police Officers said: "The equipment will help us to collect evidence from the scene more quickly without having any detrimental impact on its quality."

The equipment will cover around 4,500 miles of motorway and A roads throughout England, which should mean that all the major routes are covered by this system.

Source [Auto Trader News]

Personallyyours.co.uk has been in the number plate industry for twenty years. They provide private number plates, attend number plate auctions and buy cherished number plates.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/11032008.htm

Road network unchanged since Roman times

2008-03-10T06:50:00.001Z

10th March 2008 – Road network unchanged since Roman times

It may seem very hard to comprehend but the RAC Foundation are saying that the UK road network has seen little improvement since the Romans left our shores around one thousand six hundred years ago!

This has led to a call for the entire road network to be looked at and where necessary updated to accommodate the pressures of today’s traffic. However they do also say that if it was not for the Romans our road network would have been a lot worse if that is possible.

The foundation said:

The motor vehicle was not a legally recognised mode of transport until 1896

By 1910, a total of 140,000 cars were travelling on UK roads making driving a tax option for the Treasury

A National Road Board was set up in 1910 and ran for nine years, putting aside taxes for road improvements

The Ministry of Transport replaced the board in 1919

Economic difficulties in the period after the First World War and the Second World War itself created five false starts to the ministry's road programme

Thirty-eight years after the ministry was founded, the first motorway was built in 1957, a century after turnpikes had ceased to exist

Despite a poor road development programme the ministry developed many of the rules and regulations governing road use today.

The acting director of the RAC Foundation, Sheila Rainger, said: “Badly-planned, poorly-configured, piecemeal road-building programmes should be a feature of our country’s past. Road-user charging could be part of the future solution, but recent debate has shown this idea to be less popular than turnpikes.

“To avoid roads to ruin we need to learn from these mistakes, and develop stronger planning frameworks and more powerful delivery organisations with a clear duty to develop and manage the strategic road network. This will ensure we have a transport infrastructure fit for the 21st century.”

One thing is for sure the road network in some places needs immediate attention, but where the money is going to come from to pay for all of these improvements is anyone’s guess.

Road pricing to be scrapped

2008-03-07T07:09:00.000Z

7th March 2008 – Road pricing to be scrapped

There will be some very happy motorists around this morning as the government has made a spectacular U turn with regards to the proposed road pricing scheme that cold have seen drivers having to pay out as much as £1.30 per mile to drive on the country’s roads.

It seems that the Department of Transport has decided that it would be much better to utilise the empty space that used to be the hard shoulder and where a new lane is added to an existing roads and motorways, these will be seriously considered to be eligible for car sharing schemes, toll charging and other congestion relief schemes, whatever they may be.

It seems that the government has had enough of the problems that have come about since they decided to look into the road pricing situation, there have been many protests regarding this including a petition on the Prime Ministers website.

The Governments Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, said, 'We have been trapped in this sterile debate about road pricing. There are real, practical things we can do today to tackle congestion.'

But is this end of road pricing or has it just bee shelved for the moment so that they can introduce other schemes like the car sharing etc, but no doubt this is not the end of road pricing.

Source [What Car]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/07032008.htm

Does luck affect breakdowns?

2008-03-06T07:06:00.000Z

6th March 2008 – Does luck affect breakdowns?

No matter what people do for a living there are some people who believe in superstitions maybe they carry a lucky charm or are just careful not to walk under a ladder, it seems that this also applies to driving, with many of the drivers in the UK resorting to luck when it comes to how lucky they are when they set off for work or the school run.

When it comes to star signs it would appear to be Librans who are likely to suffer a breakdown, while if you are driving through the Purley Way in Croydon, you may wish to reconsider your route as this particular stretch of road in South East London has been marked as the place where cars are most likely to breakdown!

This all comes from a survey of over one million members of the motoring organisation the RAC.

The survey also revealed:

42% of motorists read horoscopes but only 13% read the Highway Code

67% do not read their car manual

Two in five Londoners have a lucky charm in the car compared with a national average of one in five

38% of people view a car full of mascots as a real turn off when they first date

23% would put off buying a car with an unlucky number on the plate or if it was in an unlucky colour

Cars with 13 in the number plate are 25% less likely to break down.

Just in case you never travel down the Purley Way, there are a few other places that should be avoided if you are that way inclined, they are: Bristol, Maidenhead in Berkshire and Newton Abbot in Devon.

Of course you could always make sure that your car is regularly serviced and that you check tyre pressures, fluid levels and your battery every now and then.

Source [Auto Trader News]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/06032008.htm

Drivers can get free safety training

2008-03-05T07:00:00.000Z

5th March 2008 – Drivers can get free safety training

The road safety organisation Brake are looking for family workers willing to give up some of their time and get involved in the free road safety programme that that the charity is offering. The course that covers all aspects of road safety called “Stay Safe Family Promise” which includes most aspects of road safety taking in how child safety and those who are likely to be at more risk on the UK’s roads.

These courses which are completely run by volunteers who are trained by Brake, they will then go on to make their own presentations in their communities. They will offer advice to children, parents and professionals. After they have attended a half day training course which covers making children safe in cars, driving, children on foot and cycling. The volunteers will come away with flip charts, leaflets and have plenty of advice for anyone who attends their presentations.

The general manager at Brake, Sarah Fatica, said: ’It is essential we help parents understand the dangers facing their children on roads and how we can best protect them. We’re urging professionals who work with families to register a place on a course today and make our communities safer places.’

Source [What Car]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/05032008.htm

Fear of car breakdowns

2008-03-04T07:11:00.000Z

4th March 2008 – Fear of car breakdowns

If there is one thing that a driver who is travelling on their own fears it is the fact that at some time there may be a problem with their car. This is hardly a surprise as now days many people including women are working all different hours and driving further to and from work, doing this every day the chances are that eventually there could be the occasion when there is a problem with the car and in some cases this could leave the driver stranded on a deserted rural road. In this situation it makes no difference if you are male or female.

In a survey conducted by the breakdown service Britannia Rescue it was found that around thirds of the two thousand interviewed are in fact scared of breaking down while driving alone.

But when the figures are broken down it found that ninety three per cent of women would feel scared in that situation and forty five per cent of men would feel the same. However the survey also found that someone stopping to help would actually add to the fear with seventy per cent of women not wanting a male driver to stop.

It is essential that if a driver is worried they should ensure that people know when they are on the road and where they are going this helps if there are any problems and of course to have a fully charged mobile phone for getting help along with the details of their breakdown cover.

Source [What Car]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/04032008.htm

3rd March 2008 – A Ferrari for £15,000!

2008-03-03T07:11:00.000Z

3rd March 2008 – A Ferrari for £15,000!

When we talk about fakes, this is normally associated with designer goods, which could be anything from clothing, jewellery, handbags and now it would seem high performance cars like the Ferrari Modena 360!

But unfortunately for anyone who may feel that this is a great idea, then your luck may be out, because the Italian police have just recently crushed a ring of mechanics who have become experts in producing the fake cars from Pontiacs, Mercedes Benz and Toyota car parts.

In the operation the police have seized fourteen of the fake Ferrari Modena 360’s, seven of which had already been sold the other eight were in production, however it is not yet known how many of the not so super cars have been sold in the past and the question has to be asked of the people who paid the £15,000 for these cars, clearly they were out to impress their friends and must have known that the cars were not entirely right. Especially as the car has been out of production since 2004 and a real one can cost anything up to £75,000!

But for fans of the original Miami Vice TV series will note that the black Ferrari Daytona featured in the series was actually based on a Corvette Stingray, if its good enough for them then it should be okay for anyone, shouldn’t it?

Source [Auto Trader News]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate.

http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/03032008.htm

29th February 2008 – Drivers agree phones affect driving

2008-02-29T07:15:00.000Z

29th February 2008 – Drivers agree phones affect driving

A report issued by John Fitzpatrick, the governments Road Safety Minister has proved that over ninety per cent of the general public believe that using a hand held mobile phone while driving, whether it is for just reading or sending a text message or making a call, has a marked affect on the way people drive.

This comes a year after the new rules regarding the use of hand held mobile phone came in; the law now means that any driver caught using a phone while driving will receive a fine of £60 and also three points on their driving licence. The report includes a survey gathered from police forces that show in England and in Wales over 185,000 drivers were caught using their hand held mobile phones at the wheel during 2007.

As this is the first anniversary of the new law, the government have begun a new £1.5 million advertising campaign named “THINK!” this will highlight the everything that is wrong with using a hand held mobile phone while driving, the campaign has been spread over the media by using TV, Radio and a new innovative game on the internet, in an attempt to get the message in front of as many people as possible.

Source [Crash]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate.
http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/29022008.htm

Driving tests may be cancelled tomorrow!

2008-02-28T07:11:00.000Z

Anyone wishing to take their driving test tomorrow (Friday 29th February) may be disappointed when they turn up at the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) testing centre only to find that the examiner who is supposed to take the test has not turned up.

This is due to the one day strike that has been called by the Public and Commercial Services Union for the 29th February, the strike could mean that around 8,500 staff who work for the DVLA, Highways Agency, DSA, and the Dept of Transport could all be walking out or indeed just not turning up for work on that day in a dispute over pay.

However the DSA are urging people who have got a driving test booked for tomorrow to turn up, this is because they say that not all of their staff are members of the union and therefore will not be obliged to take industrial action. So there is the possibility that some lucky learner drivers may still get the chance to take their test.

But if the examiner has not turned up, a new test date will be automatically set up by the DSA and there is also the opportunity for the learner driver to be able to claim any out of pocket expenses too. This strike will not affect people who have been booked to take the theory test, so they should turn up as arranged.

Source [Auto Express]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate.
http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/28022008.htm

Drivers still text while at the wheel

2008-02-27T07:14:00.000Z

27th February 2008 – Drivers still text while at the wheel

It seems that despite all of the warnings and publicity that has been going around recently, drivers in the UK are still sending and receiving text messages while driver their vehicles. In a survey conducted by the RAC using two thousand FaceBook members it was found that around forty five per cent of them admitted to sending a text message while driving.

There are a couple of things about this, one is that the message of how dangerous this can be is not getting across, and secondly they must be very good at it, because creating a text message and sending it as well as driving is quite something, after all there are so many hazards on the road that sometimes it is hard enough staying out of trouble.

Only eleven per cent either turns the ringer or phone off while driving, which means the majority of drivers are putting themselves in a position where they can potentially be distracted. It is cities where the figures stand out more, with the highest rate being in London (53%), and Manchester (50%), and lowest in Aberdeen (31%), Edinburgh (36%), Bristol (36%) and Glasgow (38%).

This survey comes out just as the first anniversary of the introduction of the banned on using mobile phones, drivers can pick up a £60 fine along with three points in their driving licence if they are caught in the act.

Source [PA]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate.
http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/27022008.htm

Car sharing a waste of space

2008-02-26T07:27:00.000Z

Car sharing could be a waste of road space as it is believed that in the UK it will not be using the roads to their capacity, according the motoring organisation the AA.

It has been estimated that around sixty per cent of all car journeys in the UK are made with just one person in the car, obviously if car sharing was introduced and taken up in a big way this could reduce the amount of congestion created, but it is not completely assured that by taking a passenger along with them, this would actually reduce the cars on the roads.

There are already some car sharing schemes in operation in Bristol and Leeds, while there are others proposed in Birmingham, West Yorkshire and Hertfordshire.

But the AA say that they have been doing their own research into this idea and that there are several factors that will make a road sharing scheme practical, these are in densely populated areas with busy business areas, but in order for this to really work a road scheme will need to run over long distances and there is a need for a high take up.

The AA's Edmund King said: 'In theory, car-sharing lanes make sense, but in practice they are used and abused, so they waste road capacity and are a nightmare to enforce.'

One thing is for sure, if you drive in a car sharing lane without a passenger or try to fake it, then there is a new camera system that can detect real passengers, and your number plate will give away your details.

Source [What Car]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate.
http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/26022008.htm

Older cars may be banned from towns

2008-02-25T07:33:00.000Z

25th February 2008 – Older cars may be banned from towns

In another attack on the country’s motorists there are fears that following a trial in Germany that all cars that are ten years old and over will be banned from all towns and cities in the UK. This has worried the owners of classic and vintage cars who are planning to bring this to the public’s attention.

It is estimated that around twenty five per cent of all the vehicles on the UK’s roads today are tens year old and over, this would work out at around six and half million vehicles, which would mean that these vehicle owners would not be able to enter any town or city throughout the UK and therefore is likely to cause hardship and hassle for people trying to run a business or just simply going to work.

The trail is due to take place in Stuttgart, Germany, in March. Any vehicle wishing to enter the designated green zone created around the city will need to be displaying a sticker that has been bought in advance. Vehicles will be classed into four sections where only three are eligible for a sticker and therefore allowed into the city.

In order to highlight the issue and worries of people who own older cars a petition on the Prime Minister website has been started and over 20,000 people have already signed up. The petition is available here http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Classic-Cars and will be open until the 18th March.

Source [Auto Express]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. Personallyyours.co.uk supply UK number plates with a DVLA certificate. http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/25022008.htm

Greener driving saves money

2008-02-22T07:38:00.000Z

The cost of driving has been in the news quite a lot recently with the increases in the price of fuel hitting all time highs, but there are steps that drivers can take that could save them anything up to a £100 per year and all that is required is that they adopt a more greener way of driving.

By perfecting their driving techniques and planning out a journey before setting off could save money for the driver, make the roads much safer. It has been estimated that the amount of money wasted through bad driving practices could be as high as £2.2 billion a year in fuel alone.

There are so many little things that a driver could do to save money and become a green driver that the RAC has together a few guidelines, these points prove that by making these small adjustments in the way that people are driving can make all the difference to the drivers pocket and also can help in reducing the amounts of Co2 that is being pumped into the atmosphere.

The RAC's green driving tips are: http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/22022008.htm

Pump up to cut down. Under-inflated tyres create more resistance when the car is moving, meaning that engines have to work harder, so more fuel is used and more emissions produced.

Less clutter means less CO2. A full boot adds weight and therefore increases the load on your engine. Remove clutter to save fuel.

Driving at an appropriate speed reduces CO2. Not only does staying at or within the speed limit increase driver safety, it also reduces CO2 emissions and saves money on petrol costs.

Less stopping and starting means less CO2. Anticipating traffic flow can reduce the need to start and stop engines.

Over-revving accelerates emissions. Modern car engines are designed to be efficient from the moment they are switched on, so revving up like a Formula 1 car in pole position only wastes fuel and increases engine wear.

Idling is wasting fuel. If you're likely to be at a standstill for more than three minutes, switch off the engine.

Don't get lost. Don't waste fuel by going the wrong way - plan your route before leaving.

Source [Guardian]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. UK number plates supplied on DVLA certificate. http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/22022008.htm

New parking laws unfair

2008-02-21T07:35:00.000Z

Its not long now until the proposed new parking laws come into force, by the end of March these new laws will according to the consumer watchdog Which, make it very difficult for a motorist who has fallen fowl of these plans to appeal against a ticket, which they feel has been handed out unfairly. http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/21022008.htm

However the idea behind these new rules is to make the whole system fairer to motorists, there will be a new system of fines which are supposed to lower where a vehicle is parked in a parking space but where their ticket has expired, but on the other hand there will be higher fines for anyone who happens to be seen parked where it is forbidden to do so.

The problem that is going to begin with these rules is the use of special cameras which will become available to councils and other authorities which will read the number plates of any vehicle that is seen to be parked illegally. This will mean that anyone seen stopped in a zone where parking is forbidden will receive a fine through the post as the system is linked to the DVLA where the vehicle owner’s details are kept.

Many people will see this as another attempt to raise money in a similar manner to which the speed cameras have been used, this increase in Automatic Number Plate Recognition (APNR) means that soon any traffic violation no matter how trivial will end up with a fine through the post.

Source [What Car]

Personally Yours Registrations established in 1988 we are a registered DVLA number plate’s supplier with access to over 40 million private number plates and car registrations. UK number plates supplied on DVLA certificate. http://www.personallyyours.co.uk/blog/21022008.htm

20th February 2008 – Challenge to the increased congestion charge

2008-02-20T07:31:00.000Z

There has been much written about the proposed changes to the London congestion charge, where cars that produce the most Co2 emissions will be penalised with a hefty £25 per day charge for entering the zone.

But instead of just sitting back and taking it there is to be a challenge to these proposals from the German sports car manufacturer Porsche. They will be sending a formal letter to the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone giving him two weeks to change his mind on this; otherwise Porsche will be seeking a way through the legal system by applying for a judicial review at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Andy Goss, the managing director of Porsche GB, said: “A massive congestion charge increase is quite simply unjust. Thousands of car owners driving a huge range of cars will be hit by a disproportionate tax which is clear will have a very limited effect on CO2 emissions.”

In an official statement, the German firm states: “Porsche believes the proposed increase in the congestion charge for Band G cars is unfair, that the increase – 3025% for Central London residents - is ‘disproportionate’ and that it will do nothing to achieve the stated aim of decreasing emissions in central London.”

The increased charges are due to take effect in October, but if there is a legal case, who knows what could happen, maybe a delay or even a U turn!

Source [Auto Express]

Number Plates

We make number plates for every make of car available in the UK, square number plates for range rovers and four by fours (4x4) and larger rear number plates for super cars like Bentley and Rolls Royce. We have access to over 38m number plates on a totally unique database system developed especially to search for number plates using any combination of letters or numbers available on sale in the UK. Normally you will have to show ID to buy number plates (see our Number Plates Buyer FAQ for further details).

Government gets £4 billion from fuel increase

2008-02-20T04:27:00.000Z

An argument is brewing over the amount of cash that the UK Government has been able to raise du to the recent price increases in fuel prices. This has been called a “Windfall” by many people and motoring organisations that feel there should be a price reduction of 2p per litre on the 1st April 2008.

However Government Ministers have flatly rejected this price cut proposal, which has caused even more problems and complaints, as this refusal to cut the duty on fuel is seen to bolster the views that the price increases were a money making exercise.

David Frost, the director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, has gone along with the governments plans, and said: 'The Government has received billions of pounds of unexpected revenue from recent high oil prices, which negates the need for the extra money set to come from the 2p rise in April.'

But, Angela Eagle the government’s treasury minister has also been asked about this so called windfall she said, 'The Government rejects the notion that there is a windfall, because any increase in VAT receipts from the retail sector is not by design.'

It is true that the price of crude had risen at the time, but it has now fallen back by around ten per cent, so it would seem only right that this should be reflected in the price at the pump, shouldn’t it?

Source [What Car]

PY Blog

The UK needs more scrap yards

2007-11-30T07:36:00.000Z

This is the sort of news that is going to please many people as there is nothing like having a nice new scrap yard sitting at the end of the garden! This exciting news comes from a report written by researchers at the Oxford Brookes University, which is highlighting their concerns over what happens to our cars when we have finished with them.

The problem is that the population is growing, and with this growth there is also a demand for more vehicles and with this demand there will those cars that have had their day and need to be disposed of. The report estimates that there will more cars produced in the next 25 years than there has been in the entire lifespan of the industry, which is why there is a call for more scrap yard facilities.

There will be around 3.65 billion tons of scrap produced worldwide from now until the year 2030, that’s enough to totally fill the new Wembley stadium over a thousand times, so it is clear what this amount of scrap would look like and how difficult it is going to be. Even though around 75% of current car parts can be recycled, there are also calls to increase this to 95%, but that is going to be pushing it a bit.

This is a serious problem which somehow is going to need to be addressed.

Source [Autocar]

BMW to launch new Bubble car!

2007-11-29T07:33:00.000Z

The Bubble car was a common site in the 1960’s its strange quirky shape quickly made it become a very popular collectors car and today their are clubs and societies who still use their cars on the road today, so why would a company like BMW decide to revisit their past?

Well it is simple really, their are two factors involved here, one is the demand for small eco friendly cars, this new Bubble car will directly compete with the likes of the Mercedes baby car the Smart Four Two, and secondly the addition of a car like this will help BMW’s average emissions total to drop considerably which would be helpful for a car maker who also produce some very high performance cars such as the seven series and their SUV models.

Of course BMW do have experience in revamping old classic models, we only have to look at what they have done for the Mini! So we can expect to see a sort of car that is a cross between the Mini and the Smart car, there is no doubt that there is a market for a car of this size, but will BMW be able to pull it off? If anyone can they can do it with style!

Source [Auto Express]

Collector’s cars of the future!

2007-11-28T07:47:00.000Z

Anyone looking at the classic auction sites would notice that there are some classics from the sixties that are very collectable and getting some really nice prices now.

But one of the surprising cars that may be the collector’s car of the future is Jaguars, and in particular the Jaguar XK and XKR, these cars could be great future investments according to the classic car auction at British Car Auctions.

This actually makes sound sense because if you look at the sixties icon the E-Type Jaguar these cars are now very sought after and cars that are even in fairly bad condition are fetching some staggering prices, as enthusiasts can buy these cars and restore them, this will increase the desirability of the car and clearly increase its value.

This investment potential is not only for the XK and XKR though, it would appear that all Jaguars are likely to have some sort of collectable value in the future, as we only need to look at the series I and II XJ6, these are fetching great prices too, some are even more or less exactly as they were when they were built, which makes them quite desirable.

But remember the XJ6 was a good car, but there were some problems with them and any restoration project is going to take lots of time and of course cash!

Source [Auto Express]

Land Rover to produce 60th anniversary Defender

2007-11-27T07:45:00.000Z

Despite the company being in a sort of limbo at the moment they are still preparing to celebrate their 60th anniversary and to get this off in style they launched the special Land Rover Defender SVX 60th anniversary model at the spectacular British Red Cross Ball in London, and had the Royal seal of approval with Zara Phillips being pictured with the car.

This first model was auctioned at the ball with the proceeds going to the Red Cross, the association between Land Rover and the Red Cross goes back to 1954 when the company supplied the car to the charity for use in Dubai.

The new model comes in metallic black, with satin finish black decals, and will come in the 90 soft top and 9 station wagon models. All models will sport special five spoke alloy wheels; strengthened front undershield and fantastic clear LED rear lights.

In total there will only be 200 of these special vehicles produced 140 of the two seater Defender 90 soft top and 60 of the 90 station wagons the production of these vehicles will go into production in the spring of 2008 with the first deliveries will be made in the summer.

Unfortunately there were no price announcements.

Source [Auto Moto Portal]

The sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to be announced in 2008!

2007-11-26T07:41:00.000Z

The saga goes on and on, for the last remaining UK brands, Jaguar and Land Rover. Ford say that they will be announcing the winning bid with the next two months which means the fate of the two companies will not be known until early 2008.

However there is some good news for the industry, which is the two companies will be sold as one package, but what happens afterwards is naturally going to be down to the new owners. In respect of the new owners it is believed that the three “Finalists” will be TATA, Mahindra & Mahindra and One Equity Partners.

The union that represents the workers of Jaguar and Land Rover, the British Transport Workers union, Unite, have been meeting with all three of the prospective new owners, and have stated that in their opinion and by going on what these companies have said, they would recommend the Indian steel firm, TATA! Not that it will have much to do with the final outcome though.

It will be interesting to see exactly what the three bidders have in store the two companies, because despite what they say, it has to depend on how the companies approach the market and how they handle the workers at the plants, Jaguar and Land Rover are not out of the woods yet!

Source [Autocar]

Plans for high tax increases

2007-11-23T07:26:00.000Z

The government are planning a radical new plan on the way that car tax is calculated. This could see the cars that have the highest emissions being hit with a massive £1500 car tax bill. The theory (If you can call it that) behind this is that there needs to be a effort put forward that will see a huge reduction in the amount of emissions being released by cars.

There will be a range of bands that cars will fall into, with band A being the top slot and the highest cost, however this will drop as the cars move down into the different types of band, exactly how this is going to work is not yet known, but clearly the larger engines and higher emissions will be hardest hit. This will no doubt target people with families and is therefore another cost that they will have to fork out in order to simply go about their daily business.

There is talk of a £300 difference between each band, but will this actually work? All it will do is hit the average driver hard, while those who can afford to buy the latest eco type cars will be able to pay less.

There has to be another way, and if it is all down to how much fuel a car uses, then surely putting it onto fuel has to be the answer, that way the more fuel used the more tax the driver will pay!

Source [Auto Express]

Road building overspend

2007-11-22T07:51:00.000Z

If we ever wonder why all of those bad roads never get fixed it could have something to do with the fact that the road building budget is way over spent. In a report by the Committee of public Accounts it was found that in the year that ended in September 2006 there were only 36 road schemes that were completed by the Highways Agency, but at a cost, in fact the overall spending on these road building schemes actually went over budget by forty per cent.

The conclusion of the Highways Agency is that these large road building schemes should be part of national road building plan, which would free up money for the regional road building schemes to go ahead, because at the moment these are being pushed back for a long time, sometimes even years.

There is also a need for a review of spending, this especially applies to the contractors that are doing the work, and these are often overpriced and nearly always run over the allotted time period too. There is a need for there to be a more competitive edge to the road building schemes which would see the jobs being completed on time and on budget, which is just like everyone else, has to do in the real world.

Source [Auto Express]