Reports of suspected vehicle cloning reached a record high in 2025, with 11,402 drivers contacting the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) after receiving fines or penalties they said were unrelated to them.
Analysis of Freedom of Information data by the RAC shows the total was 9% higher than the 10,460 cases recorded in 2024 and 93% above the 5,912 reported in 2018.
Vehicle cloning involves copying a legitimate registration number on to another vehicle, often one with a similar make, model and colour. The registered keeper of the genuine vehicle may then have to challenge penalties and demonstrate that it was not involved in the offence.
Pressure on number plate controls
The RAC said the figures highlighted the need for stronger controls over the production and supply of number plates, as well as action against so-called ghost plates designed to evade automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
The UK has around 18,000 ANPR cameras, which capture approximately 90 million vehicle reads each day. The systems support enforcement of speeding and red-light offences, clean air zones, congestion charging, bus lanes, private parking restrictions and the ban on driving beneath a red X on smart motorways.
Ghost plates can be partially or completely unreadable to enforcement cameras. Unlike conventional cloning, they are designed to prevent a vehicle’s registration from being reliably identified in the first place.
A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety, supported by the RAC, found that as many as one in 15 vehicles could be displaying modified or non-compliant number plates, including ghost and stealth plates.
Calls for tighter supplier checks
Under current arrangements, motorists buying replacement plates are expected to provide the supplier with their V5C vehicle logbook and proof of identity and address. The checks are intended to confirm that the customer is entitled to use the registration.
However, the RAC said some suppliers did not complete the required checks and that illegal operators produced plates without verifying entitlement. It is calling for tougher standards for suppliers and greater scrutiny of the materials used to manufacture plates.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams described the continued increase in suspected cloning as alarming. He said motorists often discovered that their registration had been copied only when a penalty notice arrived, leaving them to contest evidence apparently linking their vehicle to an offence.
Williams said stricter supplier checks could make it harder for criminals to obtain cloned registrations, adding that offenders often selected vehicles resembling the legitimate one to avoid attracting attention.
The RAC is also calling for more handheld devices capable of identifying unreadable registrations, upgrades to ANPR cameras and higher security standards for number plates and their manufacture. Williams said the plastics used in raised, three-dimensional plates needed to be suitable for camera recognition, warning that some motorists might have bought non-compliant plates without realising they could not be read by enforcement systems.
The organisation said the Government appeared to be considering tougher penalties for illegal number plate offences, but argued that further preventive measures were needed to protect innocent motorists and maintain the effectiveness of road traffic and charging enforcement.