rear number plate fine

ok so i got pulled today by the police i had no idea what for until he came up to me and said i have pulled you over for your illegal rear number plate, i said whats wrong with it officer and he replied it dose not meet the uk standards registration the lettering are too small, i have a private plate on my car which is 6 characters long and all on 1 line rater than having it on 2 lines
so i got £100 fine and the took my rear number plate and told me to get a proper uk spec on made, i told him the uk lettering are to big to fit on my rear number plate as my car is an import, andhe replies take it up with dvla or stick it on your rear bumper

any one else had any problems with they rear number plate or have pics of how they have theys displayed

thanks guys.

Sounds about right though as your registration should be spread on the two lines for our square number plates unless you have less than a 5 digits in your reg? i.e typical 7 digits would be 4 on top, 3 below and for 6 it should be 3 on top, 3 below etc

yep as above, illegal all on one line

That is a bit harsh though you would of thought a telling off and get it sorted would of suffice .... dont have much respect for the police tbh especially when they act like that .

i agree with what your saying but he was more concerned about the lettering size than all being in 1 line but a standard uk lettering will not fit the rear number plate as it is not big enough
my number plate had motor bike size lettering thats the only way i can make them fit the rear number plate

to be fair he had no right to take your numberplate as its illegal to drive without one
so if I was you I would make a complaint as hes knowingly let a car go off with a ticket but no number plate which is pretty poor so he will be in the shite aswell, more so than you

Obviously got nothing else better to do. Agreed he could have educated you rather than punish you though. Git.

I have mine 2 lines with 64mm lettering, front & back & never had an issue in 10 years.
Guidelines are below:
The Road Vehicles ( Display of Registration Marks) (Amendment) regulations 2002 SI no. 2687 came into force in November 2002.

These amendment regulations introduce a new regulation 14A, making special provision in relation to the size and spacing of characters in the registration number of some imported vehicles. These regulations also include the display of motorcycle sizes number plates on imported vehicles. The provision only applies to vehicles imported into the UK which do not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval, and are so constructed, that the area available for the fixing of the registration plate precludes the display on the plate of a registration number in conformity with the requirements of regulation 14.

Also contained is an amendment to regulation 3, to prohibit the use of a number plate on which the background is patterned or textured, or gives that appearance.

Where a vehicle has been allocated a UK registration number, the number plate must comply with the specification and standards laid out in the Road Vehicles ( Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001, as amended. Certain imported vehicles may be permitted to display numberplates with smaller characters if the vehicle does not have European Community Vehicle Type Approval and the vehicle's construction/design cannot accommodate standard size numberplates.

The dimensions for the smaller sized plate are:

• each character in the registration number must be 64mm high
the width of each character of the number, other than the letter 'I' and the figure '1' must be 44mm

• the width of every part of the stroke forming a character in a number must be 10mm
the spacing between any two characters within a group must be 10mm

• the vertical spacing between groups of characters must be 5mm

• the width of a margin between the number and the top and lateral sides of the numberplate must be not less than 5mm

• the space between the bottom of the number/character and the bottom of the plate must not be less than 13mm, but within that space, the space between the bottom of the number and the top of the name and postcode of the person the plate was supplied must not be less than 5mm.

your plate sounds like it was legal to me, probably why he took it so you have no evidence now, you shouldnt of let him take it.

your legal to have it on 1 line as long as the characters are the right size, and as you said, if they were motor cycle sized, that is fine on an import.

Having a quick measurement count up it does look like a 6 character would fit in one line within the guidelines :-/
Mines 7 character & 2 lines.
Traffic police are a PITA & 9 times out of 10 complete obnoxious cocks ... statistics come from only ever having dealings with one logical & polite traffic cop in 20+ years of motoring :-/

get your plate back i hate police no respect as 95 % are one rule for them and everyone else must follow the law surely even if its illegal to use it on your car on uk roads nothing stopping you displaying it at shows etc its your property


Maybe he always wanted a R from been a kid and even now his mummy and daddy wont let him have one   
or the fact its quicker than his traffic car

Well I got a new number plate made today put it on 2 lines I've had that number plate on the car for 3 years without a problem and 2 days ago was pulled over for it, when i got the plates made nobody said it was illegal, never mind am just pissed off of the £100 fine I think it's well out of order robbing cunts it's all just a money making thing the fines keep going up.

If plate had standard backing & character spacing quite agree & understand. Real crime cost you very little in fines but something trivial & possibly within DVLA guidelines like this costs a fortune, should simply get a ticket to correct/dispute it within a time frame & only pay a fine if fail to do so.
In future drive without plates & don't bother stopping when u see blue lights :-D will cost less I expect with the fooked up UK police/court system ...

totally agree with the above. No insurance etc yes fines jail even as if they hit you no payment is payed out, apart from that motoring is easy money for the law if you can call them that