The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) plans to release its updated 2018 number plates today, along with a new batch of blacklisted registration combinations.
Number plates alluding to “swear words, sex acts and racist slurs” feature on the list of banned plates, The Sun reports. The list also includes registrations such as “**18 OOB, BL18 JOB, TA18 BAN, VA18 NAS and BU18 SHT.”
Other plates that have been outlawed this year include “BR18 ERY, BO18 CKS, NN18 GER, RO18 BER and PU18 BES”, the paper says.
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A DVLA spokesperson told The Sun: “The vast majority of registration numbers are made available but the agency holds back any combinations that may cause offence, embarrassment or are in poor taste.”
Agency members meet twice a year to examine number plates that “could be deemed racist or defamatory”, says Auto Express. But some potentially offensive plates do occasionally “slip through the net.”
The DVLA has the power to remove any number plate from circulation even if it wasn’t identified in previous censorship meetings, the magazine says.
Auto Express lists the full blacklisted plates for this year as:
O18 CKS
BL18 JOB
BO18 LOX
CO18 BAT
KN18 FEU
KN18 YOU
PU18 BES
RO18 BED
RO18 YOU
SS18 WAR
TA18BAN
TA18BNN
UK18 WAR
VA18 NAS
But it’s not just offensive number plates that catch the eye of the DVLA, The Sun says. The agency also takes “prized plates” out of circulation that might net a fortune at auction.
According to the paper, the DVLA made £111m from personalised plates last year. Some buyers are willing to spend thousands of pounds in order to have their name or initials displayed on their number plate.
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