Roads Minister Stephen Ladyman today unveiled a new weapon in the fight against car crime. The new initiative involves number plates which are resistant to theft, making them less attractive to criminals and helping to combat car cloning and car ID theft. According to police data, an estimated 33,000 number plates were stolen during 2004, with many more thefts going unreported. Many of these plates are subsequently used to disguise vehicles used in serious criminal activity.

New research shows that stolen plates are used to:

* 'clone' stolen vehicles for re salei
* conceal the identity of drivers involved in criminal activity (e.g. stealing fuel from petrol stations)
* evade traffic related fines including parking tickets, speeding fines and congestion charges

Stephen Ladyman said:

"This is good news for law abiding motorists and the police and bad news for criminals. These new anti-theft plates will help to reduce the number of innocent drivers who receive fines for something they did not do and who have the stress of proving their innocence. They will also help to reduce vehicle cloning where stolen vehicles are sold on to unsuspecting motorists, and tackle the problem of petrol station 'drive offs' as criminals will no longer be able to hide behind stolen plates."

DVLA has worked with number plate manufacturers to agree an industry standard for 'anti theft' plates. This now allows manufacturers to bring DVLA approved theft resistant number plates to market. Plates will only meet the standard if they cannot be removed within three minutes or cannot be reused after removal.

Meredith Hughes, Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police and Head of ACPO Road Policing said:

"Number plate theft appears to be a growing problem. It is a crime in its own right, but also leads to further criminality as stolen plates can be used to disguise vehicle identity. DVLA's initiative to promote theft resistant number plates is welcome."

Frank Whiteley, Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Constabulary and lead member of ACPO agrees:

"I support DVLA's adoption of a standard for theft resistant number plates. If the industry takes up this challenge and more secure number plates become readily available, it should help to reduce this criminal activity."