The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has joined forces with West Bromwich MP Sarah Coombes to push for a crackdown on fake and illegal number plates, amid growing concerns that so-called ‘ghost plates’ are being used to evade detection and commit offences without trace.

Ghost plates are illegally modified vehicle registration plates designed to avoid Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems, using reflective coatings or altered characters to render them unreadable to cameras. Priced from as little as £30 and readily available online, they allow offenders to speed, run red lights, and avoid tolls and fines while remaining invisible to enforcement systems.

CTSI said the rise in illegal plates was undermining road safety and enabling dangerous drivers to “operate with impunity”. The organisation has warned that current penalties are not fit for purpose. Under existing rules, using an illegal plate typically results in a £100 fine and no penalty points – less than the fine and licence endorsement for the traffic offences they conceal.

Sarah Coombes MP has introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill seeking to raise the fine for illegal plates to £1,000, with six penalty points, and in the most serious cases, allow for vehicle seizure or driving disqualification. She said: “The sale of illegal number plates is not a victimless issue — it enables criminal behaviour, undermines road safety, and erodes public trust. I’ve been campaigning to increase the fines for using a ghost plate to £1000 and six penalty points. But that’s only part of the story – the websites and platforms selling these plates must also take responsibility.”

Reports suggest up to 1 in 15 number plates in the UK may be illegible to ANPR cameras. In one London enforcement campaign, 40% of taxis and private hire vehicles were found with illegal modifications. Similar issues have been reported in Wolverhampton and Rochdale, where local authorities uncovered widespread use of ghost plates among licensed vehicles.

Rochdale Trading Standards and Greater Manchester Police jointly launched roadside checks that revealed the extent of the issue. Subsequent investigations led to the seizure of materials from local suppliers and the dismantling of illegal operations. That work led to a national, multi-agency operation involving the DVLA, National Trading Standards Intelligence Team, and multiple Police forces.

CTSI chief executive John Herriman said: “Illegal ‘ghost’ plates are a menace that allow dangerous drivers and criminals to operate with impunity – this is completely unacceptable. We fully support calls for tougher penalties and proactive enforcement to stamp out the use of fake number plates. We are particularly concerned about the growing link to Organised Crime Groups in the UK.”

He added that Trading Standards teams play a vital role in regulating number plate suppliers, who must be DVLA-registered and meet British Standard requirements for legibility and reflectivity. Non-compliant suppliers can be fined up to £1,000 and removed from the register.

Councillor Tricia Ayrton, deputy leader of Rochdale Borough Council, said her team’s findings highlighted how ghost plates were being used not just to evade detection but in connection with wider criminal activity. “It became worryingly apparent, from our proactive efforts, of how many cars on our roads were going undetected using these plates – with some stopped cars also involved in additional forms of criminal activity, including the possession of counterfeit goods,” she said.

She welcomed proposals to toughen enforcement and urged a review of whether 3D and 4D plates should be banned entirely to prevent further grey areas in legality.