An "explosive" new report has laid bare the "serious safety concerns" posed by the UK's "outdated and poorly regulated number plate system," warning it has created a crisis enabling criminals to operate undetected on the nation's roads.

The report, launched by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety (APPGTS), follows a cross-party inquiry and concludes that the UK's advanced Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) network - which captures around 90 million reads daily - is being "critically undermined" by weak regulation.

The inquiry found that as many as one in fifteen vehicles may carry modified or non-compliant plates, including 'ghost' and stealth plates designed specifically to evade ANPR detection. These plates, often sold "openly online by unregulated suppliers," allow drivers to skip road charges, tolls, and fines.

However, the threat extends far beyond traffic offences. Criminals are using these ANPR-evasive plates to facilitate serious crimes, including "rogue trading, drug dealing and organised crime such as human trafficking and people smuggling."

A submission from National Trading Standards highlighted the chilling national security implications: "Ghost plates pose a serious threat to counter-terrorism operations. Vehicles with stealth plates can bypass surveillance systems around critical infrastructure such as airports, government buildings, and transport hubs.

"This creates vulnerabilities that could be exploited by terrorist groups planning vehicle-borne attacks."

The report exposes "extraordinary weaknesses" in number plate manufacturing. Currently, 34,455 suppliers are registered with the DVLA, many operating from private homes without any background checks. The inquiry heard that some suppliers handling sensitive ID documents were found to have "serious criminal convictions, including for violent offences and fraud."

Innocent motorists are also suffering, with increasing numbers being targeted by criminals who clone their number plates, leading to fines, debt collection, and in some cases, police investigation. The report states the "personal impact of this tampering is a scandal."

The widespread use of tampered plates poses an "acute risk to public safety." The report highlights evidence that "taxi drivers are tampering with plates en masse to avoid drop-off and road charges." The inability to trace these vehicles "raises serious risks for women and girls’ safety, as well as for vulnerable passengers."

Enforcement efforts in London have validated the scale of the issue. Transport for London (TfL), using 'ghost' plate-defeating cameras, found that 41% of licensed taxis checked had non-compliant plates. Since acquiring more of these cameras in July 2023, TfL has issued more than 4,200 fines.

The report concludes that the current system is a "gaping hole" in the UK’s security that can be exploited using "nothing more sophisticated than cellophane, leaves or a marker pen."

It calls for a wholesale revision of the system, advocating for:

• Standardised design with security features, banning 3D and 4D plates.

• Significantly restricting the number of licensed sellers via annual fees and regular audits.

• Increasing the fine, giving offenders points for illegal plates, and seizing the vehicles of repeat offenders.

Simon Williams, RAC head of policy, strongly supported the findings: “It’s clear from this report that urgent action must be taken to stop the widespread abuse of number plates, which has serious and far-reaching consequences for our society from road safety to national security. Ghost and cloned plates have no place on our roads as no one should be able to drive a vehicle that’s invisible to enforcement cameras or untraceable by the police."

Martin Saunders, head of uninsured driving prevention at the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, added that the "increasing damage done by drivers of vehicles hiding in plain sight on our road system should not be tolerated."

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