Police Crack Down On Illegal Licence Plates

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Police Crack Down On Illegal Licence Plates

July 20, 2012

Operation Dragon is the new initiative launched by police forces around Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk; in an attempt to clamp on on the illegal use of misrepresented vehicle licence plates.

From mid-July until the first week of August the six police forces are working in collaboration to identify licence plates that are not being displayed in the correct format.

According to the police a misrepresented vehicle licence plate can be difficult to read - increasing the difficulty for police attempting to identify vehicles that have been involved in criminal activity.

The police forces are using "Automatic Number Plate Recognition" (ANPR) to help identify problem licence plates. Anyone caught could be fined up to £1,000. Almost 300 motorists were issued formal penalties earlier this year in a similar operation.

Commenting on the initiative, ANPR Manager for Hertfordshire police, Andy Piper stated:

“Following the success of this operation earlier in the year, ANPR teams across the counties will be involved in the operation to keep the roads safe and deter criminals from coming into these areas to commit crime."

Inspector Piper added that if a vehicle's licence is not in a standard format the car insurance holder will be stopped and could be fined. He went on to say that ignorance will not be accepted as an excuse.

Source: http://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/hertfordshire_police_crack_down_on_illegal_number_plates_1_1451108