Long before the introduction of the automobile into the UK, there was an established licensing system requiring horse drawn vehicles to display a numbered plate. In 1896, there were only 20 cars on Britain's roads so it is not surprising that it took a few years for a licensing system to be implemented.

The Motor Car Act 1903 Official registering of UK automobiles commenced in 1904, after the Motor Car Act was passed in 1903. There were already some 5000 cars on Britain's roads. The Act required each Council to set up a Registration and Licensing Authority to register all vehicles in their catchment area, originally costing 20 shillings per vehicle. The rapid increase in popularity of the automobile led to the creation of the Ministry of Transport 1919. This was quickly followed by the Roads Act of 1920, requiring not only that all vehicles be registered with their regional Registration and Licensing Authority but also required car manufacturers, dealers and repair shops apply for a general licence, the forerunner of today's Trade Plates.

The First System: 1903 - 1932 From 1903 the first, dateless, registration numbers were issued. These used the series A1 to YY9999. The single or pair of letters at the beginning of the licence plate was known as the 'tag'. This indicated the local authority that registered the vehicle, A = London, B = Lancashire, C = Yorkshire. Tags in England and Wales were originally allocated by size of population in given areas, while Scotland and Northern Ireland used the letters S for Scotland and I for Ireland, with other letters denoting specific areas. For instance, plates in Ireland were IA in Antrim, IB in Armagh, etc. On reaching 9999, the licensing authority was allocated a new tag, on a first come first served basis.

The Numbers Run Out: 1932 - 1963 The numbers available ran out in 1932 and a new system was introduced. This system, of three letters followed by up to three numbers, took the series AAA 1 to YYY 999. The regional tags were the second and third letter. The letters I and Z were used for Northern Irish registrations. Currently, the Northern Irish system still uses this system with four numbers instead of three. 'Q' registrations were introduced for imports.

With mass production and affordability increasing in the 1950's, the available plates again began to run out and a reversed system was brought in. This was 1 AAA to 999 YYY. By the early 1960's a further short term system was required. These plates were a reversal of the original system, with 1A to 9999 YY.

The Third Solution: 1963 ? 1982 From 1963, another registration system was introduced, adding a single letter at the end of the existing three letters and three numbers. The end letter changed annually. For example YYY 999A for issue in the first year, became YYY 999B the next. This system became compulsory in 1965 and had many advantages. It made many more registrations available, and purchasers could quickly tell the age of a vehicle.

As local authorities struggled to cope with the millions of documents, the UK Government centralized the system under the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).

For the first two years under this system, the registration changed on 1st January. However, car retailers noticed that sales dropped off in November and December as buyers waited for the new registration. In 1967, the Government changed the new registration releases to August so that there were two registration releases per year.

During this period, new legislation was effected to require all registration plates to be reflective so they were more easily read at night. It also regulated the size, shape and characters so they became uniform.

More Changes: 1983 ? 2001 Starting in 1983, the sequence reversed again and new plates began with one letter, then three numbers and three letters. So, plates then took the form of Y999 YYY. These changes also made more use of the letter 'Q' which now included vehicles with insufficient documentation, 'kit' cars, rebuilds, etc.

The Current System: 2001 ? Present In 1999 as retailers again struggled to meet demand of annual registrations the government changed from annual to biannual registration issue dates, on 1st March and 1st September.

In September 2001, the current system was introduced. That format is 2 letters, two numbers and three letters (YY99 YYY). The first set designates the region, the numbers relate to the date of issue, being the month and year. The final three letters are randomly generated. The system saw the first inclusion of the letter Z to British mainland number plates.

Personalised Plate Sales Back in 1983, the government became aware of the value of personalised plates and began withholding numbers 1 to 20. From 1991, they withheld a few more sequences. These are sold through the DVLA Personalised Registrations.The Private Plate Company is leaders of Personalised car registration and DVLA Car Registrations. Conduct your own free search, and choose from our huge selection of private-sale plates.

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