Amazon bans number plates after discovering illegal supply

Amazon has banned the sale of car number plates on its platform after a BBC London investigation revealed that they were being illegally supplied.

The BBC discovered that seven companies on Amazon were selling number plates without verifying customers’ documents or confirming their legal entitlement to the plates. In the UK, it is illegal for businesses to sell number plates without first seeing documents like a driving licence or V5 registration form.

As a result of the investigation, Amazon removed the products of all seven companies and announced that sales of number plates would cease, except for novelty plates. The illegal supply of number plates has made it easier for criminals to engage in plate cloning. This involves placing a cloned plate on a similar-looking vehicle, leading to fines and penalties being mistakenly sent to the innocent owner of the original vehicle.

The BBC’s probe found that four firms (Defence Line, Domo Corporation, SLS UK Holdings, and Plastic Services) delivered number plates without requesting any documents. Two others (Official Plates and Meena Supplies) claimed ID was required but sent the plates without asking for documentation. Only one company (Reg Locker) followed up with a request for documents, but when the BBC ignored it, the plates were still dispatched.

Ruth Cadbury, Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth and chair of the Transport Select Committee, called the findings “hugely troubling.” One of the companies, SLS UK Holdings, is based in Wiltshire and claims to be “DVLA registered” and sells “road legal” plates. The company is run by Jordan Daykin, who appeared on Dragons’ Den in 2014. He did not comment on the investigation’s findings.

Plastic Services, also based in Wiltshire, was found to have supplied number plates without the required checks. It operates from the same address as SLS UK Holdings. The director of Plastic Services, Macorley Bivens, did not respond to the BBC’s requests for comment.

Defence Line Ltd and Domo Corporation Ltd both sold plates without requesting documentation. Official Plates Ltd and Meena Supplies Ltd claimed ID was required but proceeded with the sale without verifying documents. Meena Supplies Ltd stated that they take compliance seriously, while Official Plates Ltd declined to comment.

Reg Locker Ltd requested compliance documents after the purchase but still sent the plates when the BBC did not respond. The company apologized for the oversight, blaming temporary staff and pledging to retrain them.

Between 2021 and 2023, around 90,000 penalty charge notices were canceled due to number plate cloning. Stella Roscoe from Leatherhead, Surrey, experienced the consequences firsthand when she received a police letter accusing her of fleeing the scene of an accident in Ilford—despite being nowhere near the location. Although the police acknowledged the plates had been cloned, the insurance claim is still ongoing seven months later. Roscoe called for prison sentences for those responsible for plate cloning.

Rob Laugharne, managing director at Hills Number Plates, one of the country’s largest suppliers, said he was not surprised by the findings. He noted that online plate supply has grown out of control due to outdated regulations, which still require physical verification of documentation. Hills is piloting a system that uses digital copies of IDs to verify entitlement, something other government agencies already accept.

The DVLA stated that it works with the police and Trading Standards to take action against non-compliant suppliers and urged the public to report such cases. Ruth Cadbury mentioned that the Home Office was working on a report about car cloning, though the outcome is still awaited.

The Home Office responded by stating that the cloning and defacing of number plates is a serious concern for road safety and criminal activity. They are working with the police, DVLA, and other partners to address these issues and are developing a new Road Safety Strategy to tackle related crimes, with more details to be shared soon.