Learn everything you need to know about number plate regulations, including legal requirements, font rules, spacing, materials, display guidelines, and penalties for non-compliance. Stay road-legal with up-to-date information on vehicle registration plate laws, DVLA standards, and MOT compliance to avoid fines and failed inspections.
Regulations for number plates
The number plates on your vehicle must:
- be made from a reflective material
- display black characters on a white background (front plate)
- display black characters on a yellow background (rear plate)
- not have a background pattern
- be marked to show who supplied the number plate
- be marked with a British Standard number - this is ‘BS AU 145e’ for plates fitted after 1 September 2021
The characters must not be removable or reflective. If your number plates were fitted after 1 September 2021, they must also be a single shade of black.
Your number plates can also:
- have 3D (raised) characters
- display certain flags, symbols and identifiers
- display a green flash, if you have a zero-emission vehicle
If you ride a motorbike or motor tricycle
Motorcycles and motor tricycles registered on or after 1 September 2001 must only display a number plate at the rear of the vehicle.
If you ride a motorbike or motor tricycle registered before 1 September 2001 you can also display a number plate at the front, but you do not have to.
Motorcycle and motor tricycle number plate numbers should be on 2 lines.
Towing a trailer
Your trailer must display the same number plate as the vehicle you’re towing it with. If you’re towing more than one trailer, the number plate must be fixed to the trailer at the back.
Taking commercial or heavy trailers abroad
If your trailer needs to be registered to go abroad, you need to fix the trailer registration plate to the back, as well as the towing vehicle’s number plate.
Fix the trailer registration plate as far away as possible from the towing vehicle’s number plate.
If you cannot fix the trailer registration plate on the back of your trailer, fix it to both sides instead. Make sure they’re clearly visible.
Letter spacing, size and style
The characters on a number plate need to be a certain height and size.
- Characters must be 79mm tall
- Characters (except the number 1 or letter I) must be 50mm wide
- The character stroke (the thickness of the black print) must be 14mm
- The space between characters must be 11mm
- The space between the age identifier and the random letters must be 33mm
- The margins at the top, bottom and side of the plate must be 11mm
- Vertical space between the age identifier and the random letters must be 19mm
What Documentation Do I Need to Provide to Purchase Number Plates?
To complete your number plate purchase, please present the following documentation: a valid form of identification, such as a driving licence or passport.
Also we need to see one of the following:
- vehicle registration certificate (V5C or V5CNI)
- green ‘new keeper’ slip from the V5C or V5CNI
- certificate of entitlement (V750 or V750NI) to the number
- retention document (V778)
- a renewal reminder for vehicle tax or SORN (V11 or V11NI)
- temporary registration certificate (V379 or V379NI)
- a number plate authorisation certificate (V948) with an official stamp from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
- an electronic number plate authorisation certificate (eV948 or eV948/2)
- a letter of authorisation from a fleet operator (including lease or hire company) quoting the document reference number from the registration certificate
- if your fleet is in the new V5C on demand scheme (also called ‘V5C suppression’), a PDF of the vehicle’s details from the view vehicle record service
- UK trailer registration certificate (VTRC)