Number Plates Banned by the DVLA for 2022
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has revealed its new list of 2022 registration numbers that are considered too rude or offensive to be seen on the UK’s roads.
Twice each year, before the new registrations are issued in March and September, a dedicated DVLA team goes through the hundreds of thousands of letter and number combinations to pull out any that could cause offence. These include swear words, religious or political references, and any sexually related words. In the last couple of years, number plates with any COVID references have also been banned.
The new ‘22’ registrations were released on 1st March and, so far, 343 combinations have been blacklisted. The meanings of some of the prohibited number plates are all too apparent, but others seem pretty innocent and take a bit of imagination to work out why they might cause offence.
Every year, some registrations are automatically banned, including those with words like ASS, BUM and SEX at the end. The ‘22’ plates that have been withdrawn include ‘A22 HLE’, ‘BA22 TRD’, ‘BE22 END’, ‘BJ22 GAL’, ‘BT22 CHY’, ‘BU22 SHT’, ‘DR22 NK*’, ‘*M22 FKR’, ‘*S22 LAG’, and ‘TU22 URD’.
Some of the sexually offensive excluded numbers are ‘BJ22 FAB’, ‘BU22 GER’, ‘PO22 RNO’, and ‘VA22 GNA’. Also banned are the COVID-related plates ‘CO22 ONA’, ‘CO22 RNA’ and CO22 VD*’. Combinations that relate to war, hell, war or certain historical people also made the cut list, such as ‘AH22 TLR’, ‘GO22 HLL’, ‘SA22 TEN’ and ‘YE22 WAR’.
A spokesperson for the DVLA said, “The vast majority of registration numbers are made available but we hold back any combinations that may cause offence, embarrassment or are in poor taste.”
Some Offensive Plates Slip Through the Net
Occasionally a dodgy registration number slips through the net and gets issued to an unsuspecting (or not) driver. Earlier this month a Scots woman was stopped by the police who found her ‘FK02 AYE’ personalised number plate offensive. She was threatened with a £200 fine if caught driving with the plates again.
If a private number plate is reported to the DVLA as offensive it can be withdrawn, even if the driver has bought it legitimately, leaving the owner out of pocket. You can search for cheeky number plates, but you should be careful that the registration number won’t offend anyone as you could find yourself without your plates and your cash.
At CarReg we have a database of around 60 million personalised number plates, so you should be able to find one that suits you without offending other people or falling foul of the law. Start your search today.
