Drivers are being urged to make sure their licence plates are road legal as the new “74” vehicle registration number rolls out next week.

Motorists in England, Scotland and Wales will see the new numbers next week, as the first 74 plates hit the road on September 1.

They must make sure their own licence plates adhere to specifications in order to be road legal, with a warning that those that do not comply with rules could be hit with a £1,000 fine.

DVLA number plate warning

The DVLA warns: “Number plates (also known as licence plates) must show your registration number correctly. You cannot rearrange letters or numbers, or alter them so that they’re hard to read.

Herald Series:

"You could be fined up to £1,000 and your vehicle will fail its MOT test if you drive with incorrectly displayed number plates."

Is your number plate legal?

These are the rules you should be aware of around licence plates from the DVLA.

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