Number plate mistakes that could see you fail your MOT and land you £1,000 fine

Illegal number plates could see thousands of Brits face fines and even make them fail their MOT. 

Certain personalised number plates have the potential to be costly errors for drivers. 

While a personalised number plate can be, to some people, a nice form of expression, they could also be costly. 

Personalised number plate firm Regtransfers encourages drivers to use a degree of imagination and interpretation while designing one, but sticking to the traditional number plate formats. 

According to the company, however, 15,000 drivers across the UK have been fined for having an illegal plates over the past three years. 

The worst offenders come from London with 3,058 offences clocked while North Wales and Norfolk also totted up over 1,100 each. 

This includes plates that did not conform to regulations, cars without a front or back plate or ones with indistinguishable/obscured plates. 

It is a legal requirement for a car’s numberplate to be clear and legible and failure to meet these criteria can result in £1,000 fine, loss of the personal registration number and/or a failed MOT. 

There are other modifications that drivers can also be penalised for.

These include using the wrong colours for the lettering or for the background of the plates. 

Number plates should have black characters on a white background at the front of the car and on a yellow background on the back of the car.

Spacing is also crucial and drivers should ensure that the characters on their plate are correctly spaced. 

Non-confirming backgrounds or stickers that could interfere with the legibility of a plate are also factors that carry a fine risk.

The standard font used on all number plates is ‘Charles Wright’ and it is the only one deemed acceptable for motorists to have. 

Similarly, the flag on the left hand side of the plate must also be correct. 

Acceptable flags include: The EU flag, The Union Jack, The St George Cross, The Scottish Saltire (St Andrew Cross) and The Red Dragon of Wales.

Relevant letters accompanying these flags must be also:

GREAT BRITAIN, Great Britain or GB

UNITED KINGDOM, United Kingdom or UK

ENGLAND, England, ENG, Eng

SCOTLAND, Scotland, SCO or Sco

CYMRU, Cymru, CYM or Cym

WALES or Wales

Failure to comply could also land drivers with a fine and/or MOT failure.