Drivers Warned To Keep Plates Clear

Drivers are being warned to keep their licence plates and lights clean during the winter months.

While there has always been a legal and motor insurance requirement to keep them clear, inadvertently obscured registrations could now trigger police automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and identify them as criminals.

"Now is a timely reminder to keep number plates and lights clean because there is a lot more dirt on the road in the winter," said a police spokesman.

"ANPR is a very effective policing tool which can help keep us all safe. Today's criminal invariably relies on motor vehicles to commit offences and this system can weed them out as they travel on the roads," he added.

Drivers whose vehicles sport number plates with novelty typefaces or unusual spacing have also been warned that they risk triggering the cameras, designed to catch vehicles without motor insurance or that have been reported stolen.

Automatic number plate recognition cameras work by taking a series of images of the approaching vehicle until the number plate can be read using special Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. All the images taken are stored in the camera’s memory.

So drivers who let their cars get too dirty could be facing more than just a cleaning bill.

Be Wiser is a quality provider of Motor Insurance.