Numberplate cloning in the UK has risen sharply as criminals look to avoid paying fees and tolls operated by a growing number of automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) zones.
Police are warning that the issue is an “ongoing battle” as more systems pop up across the country to enforce compliance in bus lanes, congestion charge and low-emission zones.
The issue is most prevalent in London, where last year 36,794 fines were issued by Transport for London to cars bearing cloned numberplates, up from 22,450 in 2022.
Despite this sizeable number, just 464 cloned vehicles were caught by the Metropolitan Police in the 12 months to June.
Lucrietia Calderwood is one motorist who has been a victim of cloning. She and her partner recently began receiving penalty charge notices (PCN) for driving their Ford Fiesta in Birmingham’s and London’s LEZs – despite them having been at home in Scotland.
“We took a closer look at the PCN images and realised that our Fiesta looked different from the one in the pictures,” she told Autocar. “Someone had cloned its numberplate.”
They have since received 10 fines totalling £900, but despite the police giving them a crime reference number, the authorities in London and Birmingham have only put the fines on hold while the couple gather evidence to prove that their Fiesta is not the one in the ANPR pictures.
“It ’s the type of thing you hear about but never expect to happen to you,” said Calderwood. “It feels like you’re chasing your tail, trying to get the PCNs overturned. My partner has SORN’d our Fiesta while we wait for it to be resolved, but we are still receiving fines.”
In a bid to crack down on serious organised crime, including cloning, West Midlands Police has launched Operation Target.
“It has been boosted by Birmingham’s [Clean AirZone], although the growing number of car thieves switching numberplates to avoid detection is another reason [for the rise in cloning],” said crime manager Mark Silvester.
