Vehicle Number Plate or Registration Plate
By law, all vehicles must display a valid number plate for identification purposes. Vehicle number plates (or registration plates) consist of a sequence of letters and numbers as indicated in the sample plate below. The first two letters, the so-called local identifier, correspond to the area of the UK from which the vehicle was first registered. The following two numbers, the so-called age identifier, identify the age of the vehicle. The final three letters are randomly generated and so are not used for identification purposes.
The tables below provide information on which letter codes relate to which local areas and how number codes relate to the year of registration.
Registration Plate Letter Assignment (Local Identifiers)
| Letter | District | Local Office | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Anglia | Peterborough | AA-AN |
| Norwich | AO-AU | ||
| Ipswich | AV-AY | ||
| B | Birmingham | Birmingham | BA-BY |
| C | Cymru | Cardiff | CA-CO |
| Swansea | CP-CV | ||
| Bangor | CW-CY | ||
| D | Deeside to Shrewsbury | Chester | DA-DK |
| Shrewsbury | DL-DY | ||
| E | Essex | Chelmsford | EA-EY |
| F | Forest and Fens | Nottingham | FA-FP |
| Fens | Lincoln | FR-FY | |
| G | Garden of England | Maidstone | GA-GO |
| Brighton | GP-GY | ||
| H | Hampshire and Dorset | Bournemouth | HA-HJ |
| Portsmouth | HK-HY * | ||
| K | Luton | KA-KL | |
| Northampton | KM-KY | ||
| L | London | Wimbledon | LA-LJ |
| Stanmore | LK-LT | ||
| Sidcup | LU-LY | ||
| M | Manchester and Merseyside | Manchester | MA-MY |
| N | North | Newcastle | NA-NO |
| Stockton | NP-NY | ||
| O | Oxford | Oxford | OA-OY |
| P | Preston | Preston | PA-PT |
| Carlisle | PU-PY | ||
| R | Reading | Reading | RA-RY |
| S | Scotland | Glasgow | SA-SJ |
| Edinburgh | SK-SO | ||
| Dundee | SP-ST | ||
| Aberdeen | SU-SW | ||
| Inverness | SX, SY | ||
| V | Severn Valley | Worcester | VA-VY |
| W | West of England | Exeter | WA-WJ |
| Truro | WK, WL | ||
| Bristol | WM-WY | ||
| Y | Yorkshire | Leeds | YA-YK |
| Sheffield | YL-YU | ||
| Beverley | YV-YY |
* HW is reserved exclusively for the Isle of Wight.
Registration Plate Number Assignment (Age Identifiers)
| Date Range | Code | Date Range | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 2001 - Feb 2002 | 51 | March 2002 - Aug 2002 | 02 |
| Sept 2002 - Feb 2003 | 52 | March 2003 - Aug 2003 | 03 |
| Sept 2003 - Feb 2004 | 53 | March 2004 - Aug 2004 | 04 |
| Sept 2004 - Feb 2005 | 54 | March 2005 - Aug 2005 | 05 |
| Sept 2005 - Feb 2006 | 55 | March 2006 - Aug 2006 | 06 |
| Sept 2006 - Feb 2007 | 56 | March 2007 - Aug 2007 | 07 |
| Sept 2007 - Feb 2008 | 57 | March 2008 - Aug 2008 | 08 |
| Sept 2008 - Feb 2009 | 58 | March 2009 - Aug 2009 | 09 |
| Sept 2009 - Feb 2010 | 59 | March 2010 - Aug 2010 | 10 |
| Sept 2010 - Feb 2011 | 60 | March 2011 - Aug 2011 | 11 |
| Sept 2011 - Feb 2012 | 61 | March 2012 - Aug 2012 | 12 |
| Sept 2012 - Feb 2013 | 62 | March 2013 - Aug 2013 | 13 |
| Sept 2013 - Feb 2014 | 63 | March 2014 - Aug 2015 | 14 |
