Vehicle Registration Plates

The Motor Car Act came into effect on January 4th 1904, it was a requirement that all vehicles in Britain must be registered and that they also had to carry number plates.

The only exception to this rule was for the reigning sovereign's cars.

The Act laid down the design that the registration numbers were to take, and the County Councils and Borough Councils that would issue them. This system lasted without change until October 1974, when the responsibility was passed on to the Department of Transport through the Vehicle Registration Office.

Just a single letter followed by a single number was all that was needed in the beginning, this soon changed to two letters. By 1932 three letter/ three number combinations were necessary.

Every Registration Office in the country was issued with its own "Prime Index" letters. These were the last two letters in the three letter combination found on plates issued before the new style plates were introduced in 2001.              Take these two plates for example, 923 ACE and GCE 912, on both plates the letters CE are the last two letters in the combination, which makes  CE the "prime index" letters, Peterborough was issued with the Prime index CE, so this car originally was registered there.

There have always been exceptions, XA to XY are listed as Spare Marks, while some combinations that make up words have been avoided. also Private plates are obviously excluded from the equation due to them been personalised by the buyer.

In the early 1960's it was becoming apparent that some busy offices would soon run out of possible combinations, so a new system was introduced which added a letter after the three numbers, this single letter was named the "Suffix".

In the Reg Plate VUM 131N, N is classed as the Suffix letter,  At first the Suffix was also an indication to the cars calendar year of issue due to it been issued every January the 1st, but in 1965 while on the Suffix E, the change to F came within less than a year on August 1st, this was at the request of the motor industry which wanted to boost sales at their slow period, 

The plates now changed yearly on August 1st right up until August 1998 when the S plate was introduced, because we have moved on again to a new system that uses a twice yearly registration system, which meant that in the following March in 1999 we would see the T plate introduced.

As the Suffix letter system reached Y in 1982, a Prefix Letter had to take it's place, for example A111 ABC instead of ABC 111A. The A represented the Trade Year, the 111 represented the serial number the second A was a serial letter and the letters BC indicated the office of first registration.

From the beginning, the Suffix and Prefix letters I O Q and Z were not used due to their similarity towards certain Numbers.

New style plates have now been introduced, these also use two letters to identify the cars original registration location, these use a  different method to the older style plates, Their info is on page 2. PAGE 2

Quick Reminder for the tables below, Look for the last two Letters, i.e. A13 NOT = OT which is Portsmouth

A

B

BA = Manchester	BB = Newcastle upon Tyne	BC = Leicester	BD = Northampton	BE = Lincoln
BF = Stoke on Trent	BG = Liverpool	BH = Luton	BJ = Ipswich	BK = Portsmouth
BL = Reading	BM = Luton	BN = Manchester	BO = Cardiff	BP = Portsmouth
BR = Newcastle upon Tyne	BS = Aberdeen	BT = Leeds	BU = Manchester	BV = Preston
BW = Oxford	BX = Haverford-West	BY = London NW

C

CA = Chester	CB = Manchester	CC = Bangor	CD = Brighton	CE = Peterborough
CF = Reading	CG = Bournemouth	CH = Nottingham	CJ = Gloucester	CK = Preston
CL = Norwich	CM = Liverpool	CN = Newcastle upon Tyne	CO = Exeter	CP = Huddersfield
CR = Portsmouth	CS = Glasgow	CT = Lincoln	CU = Newcastle upon Tyne	CV = Truro
CW = Preston	CX = Huddersfield	CY = Swansea

D

DA = Birmingham	DB = Manchester	DC = Middlesbrough	DD = Gloucester	DE = Haverford-West
DF = Gloucester	DG = Gloucester	DH = Dudley	DJ = Liverpool	DK = Manchester
DL = Portsmouth	DM = Chester	DN = Leeds	DO = Lincoln	DP = Reading
DR = Exeter	DS = Glasgow	DT = Sheffield	DU = Coventry	DV = Exeter
DW = Cardiff	DX = Ipswich	DY = Brighton

E

EA = Dudley	EB = Peterborough	EC = Preston	ED = Liverpool	EE = Lincoln
EF = Middlesbrough	EG = Peterborough	EH = Stoke on Trent	EJ = Haverford-West	EK = Liverpool
EL = Bournemouth	EM = Liverpool	EN = Manchester	EO = Preston	EP = Swansea
ER = Peterborough	ES = Dundee	ET = Sheffield	EU = Bristol	EV = Chelmsford
EW = Peterborough	EX = Norwich	EY = Bangor

F

FA = Stoke on Trent	FB = Bristol	FC = Oxford	FD = Dudley	FE = Lincoln
FF = Bangor	FG = Brighton	FH = Gloucester	FJ = Exeter	FK = Dudley
FL = Peterborough	FM = Chester	FN = Maidstone	FO = Gloucester	FP = Leicester
FR = Preston	FS = Edinburgh	FT = Newcastle upon Tyne	FU = Lincoln	FV = Preston
FW = Lincoln	FX = Bournemouth	FY = Liverpool

G

GA = Glasgow	GB = Glasgow	GC = London SW	GD = Glasgow	GE = Glasgow
GF = London SW	GG = Glasgow	GH = London SW	GJ = London SW	GK= London SW
GL = Truro	GM = Reading	GN = London SW	GO = London SW	GP = London SW
GR = Newcastle upon Tyne	GS = Luton	GT = London SW	GU = London SW	GV = Ipswich
GW = London SW	GX = London SW	GY = London SW

H

HA = Dudley	HB = Cardiff	HC = Brighton	HD = Huddersfield	HE = Sheffield
HF = Liverpool	HG = Preston	HH = Carlisle	HJ = Chelmsford	HK = Chelmsford
HL = Sheffield	HM = London C	HN = Middlesbrough	HO = Bournemouth	HP = Coventry
HR = Swindon	HS = Glasgow	HT = Bristol	HU = Bristol	HV = London C
HW = Bristol	HX = London C	HY = Bristol

J

JA = Manchester	JB = Reading	JC = Bangor	JD = London C	JE = Peterborough
JF = Leicester	JG = Maidstone	JH = Reading	JJ = Maidstone	JK = Brighton
JL = Lincoln	JM = Reading	JN = Chelmsford	JO = Oxford	JP = Liverpool
JR = Newcastle upon Tyne	JS = Inverness	JT = Bournemouth	JU = Leicester	JV = Lincoln
JW = Birmingham	JX = Huddersfield	JY = Exeter

K

KA = Liverpool	KB = Liverpool	KC = Liverpool	KD = Liverpool	KE = Maidstone
KF = Liverpool	KG = Cardiff	KH = Hull	KJ = Maidstone	KK = Maidstone
KL = Maidstone	KM = Maidstone	KN = Maidstone	KO = Maidstone	KP = Maidstone
KR = Maidstone	KS = Edinburgh	KT = Maidstone	KU = Sheffield	KV = Coventry
KW = Sheffield	KX = Luton	KY = Sheffield

L

LA = London NW	LB = London NW	LC = London NW	LD = London NW	LE = London NW
LF = London NW	LG = Chester	LH = London NW	LJ = Bournemouth	LK = London NW
LL = London NW	LM = London NW	LN = London NW	LO = London NW	LP = London NW
LR = London NW	LS = Edinburgh	LT = London NW	LU = London NW	LV = Liverpool
LW = London NW	LX = London NW	LY = London NW

M

MA = Chester	MB = Chester	MC = London NE	MD = London NE	ME = London NE
MF = London NE	MG = London NE	MH = London NE	MJ = Luton	MK = London NE
ML = London NE	MM = London NE	MN = (not used)	MO = Reading	MP = London NE
MR = Swindon	MS = Edinburgh	MT = London NE	MU = London NE	MV = London NE
MW = Swindon	MX = London NE	MY = London NE

N

NA = Manchester	NB = Manchester	NC = Manchester	ND = Manchester	NE = Manchester
NF = Manchester	NG = Norwich	NH = Northampton	NJ = Brighton	NK = Luton
NL = Newcastle upon Tyne	NM = Luton	NN = Nottingham	NO = Chelmsford	NP = Worchester
NR = Leicester	NS = Glasgow	NT = Shrewsbury	NU = Nottingham	NV = Northampton
NW = Leeds	NX = Dudley	NY = Cardiff

O

OA = Birmingham	OB = Birmingham	OC = Birmingham	OD = Exeter	OE = Birmingham
OF = Birmingham	OG = Birmingham	OH = Birmingham	OJ = Birmingham	OK = Birmingham
OL = Birmingham	OM = Birmingham	ON = Birmingham	OO = Chelmsford	OP = Birmingham
OR = Portsmouth	OS = Glasgow	OT = Portsmouth	OU = Bristol	OV = Birmingham
OW = Portsmouth	OX = Birmingham	OY = London NW

P

PA = Guildford	PB = Guildford	PC = Guildford	PD = Guildford	PE = Guildford
PF = Guildford	PG = Guildford	PH =Guildford	PJ = Guildford	PK = Guildford
PL = Guildford	PM = Guildford	PN = Brighton	PO = Portsmouth	PP = Luton
PR = Peterborough	PS = Aberdeen	PT = Newcastle upon Tyne	PU = Chelmsford	PV = Ipswich
PW = Norwich	PX = Portsmouth	PY = Middlesbrough

R

RA = Nottingham	RB = Nottingham	RC = Nottingham	RD = Reading	RE = Stoke on Trent
RF = Stoke on Trent	RG = Newcastle upon Tyne	RH = Hull	RJ = Manchester	RK = London NW
RL = Truro	RM = Carlisle	RN = Preston	RO = Luton	RP = Northampton
RR = Nottingham	RS = Aberdeen	RT = Ipswich	RU = Bournemouth	RV = Portsmouth
RW = Coventry	RX = Reading	RY = Leicester

S

SA = Aberdeen	SB = Glasgow	SC = Edinburgh	SD = Glasgow	SE =Aberdeen
SF = Edinburgh	SG = Edinburgh	SH = Edinburgh	SJ = Glasgow	SK = Inverness
SL = Dundee	SM = Carlisle	SN = Dundee	SO = Aberdeen	SP = Dundee
SR = Dundee	SS = Aberdeen	ST = Inverness	SU = Glasgow	SV = (unused)
SW = Carlisle	SX = Edinburgh	SY = (unused)

T

TA = Exeter	TB = Liverpool	TC = Bristol	TD = Manchester	TE = Manchester
TF = Reading	TG = Cardiff	TH = Swansea	TJ = Liverpool	TK = Exeter
TL = Lincoln	TM = Luton	TN = Newcastle upon Tyne	TO = Nottingham	TP = Portsmouth
TR = Portsmouth	TS = Dundee	TT = Exeter	TU = Chester	TV = Nottingham
TW = Chelmsford	TX = Cardiff	TY = Newcastle upon Tyne

U

UA = Leeds	UB = Leeds	UC = London C	UD = Oxford	UE = Dudley
UF = Brighton	UG = Leeds	UH = Cardiff	UJ = Shrewsbury	UK = Birmingham
UL = London C	UM = Leeds	UN =Exeter	UO = Exeter	UP = Newcastle upon Tyne
UR = Luton	US = Glasgow	UT = Leicester	UU = London C	UV = London C
UW = London C	UX = Shrewsbury	UY = Worchester

V

VA = Peterborough	VB = Maidstone	VC = Coventry	VD = (withdrawn)	VE = Peterborough
VF = Norwich	VG = Norwich	VH = Huddersfield	VJ = Gloucester	VK = Newcastle upon Tyne
VL = Lincoln	VM = Manchester	VN = Middlesbrough	VO = Nottingham	VP = Birmingham
VR = Manchester	VS = Luton	VT = Stoke on Trent	VU = Manchester	VV = Northampton
VW = Chelmsford	VX = Chelmsford	VY = Leeds

W

WA = Sheffield	WB = Sheffield	WC = Chelmsford	WD = Dudley	WE = Sheffield
WF = Sheffield	WG = Sheffield	WH = Manchester	WJ = Sheffield	WK = Coventry
WL = Oxford	WM = Liverpool	WN = Swansea	WO = Cardiff	WP = Worchester
WR = Leeds	WS = Bristol	WT = Leeds	WU = Leeds	WV = Brighton
WW = Leeds	WX = Leeds	WY = Leeds

Y

YA = Taunton	YB = Taunton	YC = Taunton	YD = Taunton	YE = London C
YF = London C	YG = Leeds	YH = London C	YJ = Brighton	YK = London C
YL = London C	YM = London C	YN = London C	YO = London C	YP = London C
YR = London C	YS = Glasgow	YT = London C	YU = London C	YV = London C
YW = London C	YX = London C	YY = London C