Too impolite for the street: The new ’74’ quantity plates BANNED by the DVLA

It’s that time of year again when the new number plate switch is upon us – and with it comes a fresh list of banned registration number combinations deemed too rude for the road.

Ahead of the 1 September switch to the ’74’ plate, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has revealed which would have been too naughty to be made available, with a list ranging from innuendos to anti-ULEZ statements.

We’ve listed every one of the banned plates – from ‘BL74 WJB’ to ‘NO74 LEZ’ – as well as some auction combinations that will be up for grabs and could shoot up in value…

*SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE STORY FOR THE FULL LIST 

Twice a year the DVLA faces the time-consuming task of sifting through any potentially offensive number plates that can be created using the new age identifier launched in March and September.

Senior members from the agency have a bi-annual meeting at their base in Swansea to choose those it wants to remove from sale because they can have derogatory meanings and connotation.

The team of experts examines any potentially offensive meanings that can be created using the latest registration number and painstakingly tries to stop anything that could be deemed insulting from becoming available to drivers.

Rude number plates that might slip through the DVLA’s net ahead of the change can still be rescinded at a later date, but the agency says ‘the vast majority of registration numbers are made available’, as most are unlikely to cause offence.

The upcoming September release of the’74’ age-identifying registration number proves that there are still many combinations to sift through, keeping the DVLA hard at work.

Each time there’s a new challenge for the DVLA team, with this year’s proving to be the ‘4’ in ’74’ that’s causing an issue due to its similarity with the letter ‘A’.

Carwow’s sifted through the full list of banned combinations, finding some lewd examples such as ‘FA74 NNY’ and ‘BL74 WJB’ that have no doubt caused a few chuckles behind closed doors.

Others scrapped including ’74 NAL’, ’74 NUS’, ‘AN74 USA’.

Continuing with the no obscenity rule, ‘SH74 TDD’ won’t ever see the light of day either. Also crossed off the list are the more childish plates such as ’74 RTS’ and ‘AB74 STD’.

But it’s not just the sniggers and smutty references the DVLA’s banned list prevents; it also has a serious side, removing anything from the roads that could cause people upset, insult or distress.

Potential references to the war in the Ukraine, especially with any Russian connotations are strictly prohibited: ‘NO74 RUS’, ‘EU74 WAR’ and ‘FK74 RUS’ are blocked from use due to their political nature.

On a similar vein, ‘J74 HAD’ is banned, as is ‘H74 MAS’ because of the escalating Israel-Hamas situation.

And drivers unhappy with UK motoring policy are prevented from voicing their opinions on a piece of plastic, as low emission zone references such as ‘NO74 LEZ’ have been removed. 

As well as having a compliant car, you’ll have to have a compliant plate.

In addition to banned plates, the DVLA has highlighted ones it believes new buyers are likely to pay extra for.

With private plates hot commodities, the DVLA auctions are a carefully considered selection of registrations that can start some serious bidding wars.

This September the DVLA has earmarked: ‘EL74 LEN’ (ELLEN), ‘BA74 LDY’ (BALDY), ‘PA74 RTY’ (PARTY) and ‘DA74 DDY’ (DADDY).

Because they spell nicknames and initials it’s likely they will shoot up in value and someone could get their hands on a plate that could be worth double or more in the not too distant future thanks to the financial stronghold private plates currently have.

Aside from the year identifier, what does a vehicle registration format actually mean?

There’s a format to DVLA registrations which include information for the DVLA to track a vehicle in its systems. 

The first few letters indicate the region where the car is registered.

Then a sequence of randomly generated letters concludes the end of the number plate, which is how the DVLA identifies the particular car as they are entirely unique to each vehicle. 

Where was your car registered? The plate regional identifier tells you 

The DVLA has a regional identifier guide as seen below.  I, Q or Z are not used in local tag identifiers- Z is only used as a random letter.

What rules are there about how plates are displayed? 

There are strict rules for manufacturers making plates which include fonts, font sizes, colours and placements. 

An incorrectly displayed number plate will see a car fail their MOT and a driver could be fined up to £1,000 if caught.

Illegal practices include number plates where the display has been tweaked to make it say a word or name, but police can and do pull people over for it. 

The DVLA guide to number plates explains: ‘You cannot rearrange or misrepresent the numbers and letters on a number plate to form names or words, so that they are hard to read. 

‘For example, fixing bolts to change any of the letters or numbers. You could be fined up to £1,000 and your car will fail its MOT test if you drive with incorrectly displayed number plates. 

‘In some cases, the registration number may be permanently withdrawn. If you misrepresent a vehicle registration number you will not get back any money that you have paid for the registration number, or any other costs you have to pay. 

‘You can’t use a registration number to make your vehicle appear younger than it actually is.’

Why purchase a private plate? Investment tips to know 

– Buyers turn over plates very quickly 

– Unlike investments such as cars or art there’s no storage costs

– You can even drive your car with the plate on without it losing any value

– Number plate supplier Platehunter saw valuation requests per day up 100 on last year 

– Businesses operating in the sector valued the British personalised number plate industry to be worth over £2billion in 2023

– Second hand market is seeing prices two or three times that of new market due to demand – huge resale value 

– Plates can double in price in just 12 months – quick returns, minimal effort