Legal Numberplates

[Robert_5077178]

Hi does anyone know what number plates i need to tow in France.

My van & car has the EU circle but has SCO for Scotland not GB, can i travel with those plates or will i need to change the plates i dont want to put stickers on car or van.

 

[Lutz]

To be legal you would need a GB plate or number plates with a GB inside the 12 stars. However, whether anyone would notice the SCO instead, after all the letters are quite small, is a small risk that may be worth taking. It's up to you but strictly speaking, what you've got now is not legal.

 

[ColinB]

I dont know if anyone saw the recent article in the papers or on TV about the young lad who covered his GB plates (just the Nationality part) with a giveaway England badge from a National newspaper to support the Football and left in on. A bobby in Greater Manchester took exception and cos he couldn't find any thing else wrong gave him a fixed penalty ticket. There was a comment from the DVLA saying that is was strictly illegal to change or display other than the correct natioanlity within the stars they tended to turn a blind eye. So Robert dont come down the M6 GMP cover part of it

 

[Icemaker]

I read that case in the manchester evening news Colin, it would appear that anything other than GB within the stars is not legal from what i read. that poor lad had only stuck the sticker to his plate to promote england and ended up with a 60 pound fine, I have the st george cross on my plates since i live in england but as far as i am aware these plates would be illegal abroad and i would have to display an additional GB sticker. Having said this the article did also hint that the law was about to be changed to allow england scotland or wales to be displayed. As for gmp they will do you for scratching your head if they catch you, they have a lot of "constables" in astras pretending to be traffic cops.

 

[Award1]

Yep you will need GB stickers, and re GMP a colleague of mine had the misfortune to put a rear wheel on the hatched markings when joing the M60, and she got 3 points as well.

 

[peter_5039887]

All new cars from Wales have a number plate with a red dragon and Cymru or Wales or both. Our X-Trail two years old has Cymru and Wales been to france twice, this summer stood talking to three Gendarmes when one of them spotted the plate and said "rugby" leading to a long conversation. They were made legal in all EU countries when Scotland and Wales complained to EU.

Peter

 

[Lutz]

Peter, you were lucky that the Gendarmes were rugby fans because Welsh or Scottish flags on number plates are NOT legal outside the UK. They were only made legal for use within the UK. The design and style of number plates is up to each country and the EU does not interfere so long as you are at home but if you want to get by without a GB plate while abroad, the number plate has to comply with EU regulations and that means the correct national abbreviation must appear within the star circle.

 

[RogerL_5041474]

Until recently all British cars abroad had to display either a GB plate or a number plate with a EU flag or union jack and UK.

The law has been recently changed to allow use, on the number plate only, of national flags and ENG, SCO, (I'm not sure what letters are used for Wales and Northern Ireland).

Oval plates with anything other than GB aren't acceptable (unless they're additional to a correct international id)

 

[Mark_5040952]

Yep you will need GB stickers, and re GMP a colleague of mine had the misfortune to put a rear wheel on the hatched markings when joing the M60, and she got 3 points as well.

Apologies if you already know this but the reason your friend got a fixed penalty was because on a slip you have a solid white line at the bottom which has the hatch markings inside. By entering a hatched area you cross a solid white line.

Hope this helps.

Mark

 

[Lutz]

You are right about the change in UK law allowing national flags, ENG, SCO and so on, to appear on number plates but this applies only for use within the UK.

Just as an oval plate with anything other than GB is not acceptable internationally, the same applies to number plates, too.

 

[RogerL_5041474]

Lutz, how can it ONLY apply in the UK. There's no requirement to show national identity WITHIN the UK. This arrangement can only apply when abroad.

 

[Lutz]

Lutz, how can it ONLY apply in the UK. There's no requirement to show national identity WITHIN the UK. This arrangement can only apply when abroad.

As you say, there is no requirement to show national identity within the UK but the law was changed to allow it as optionally permissible. However, this does not mean that such signs are recognised outside the UK. Abroad, 'GB' is the ONLY recognised national identification as 'SCO', 'ENG', national flags, etc. comply with UK but not with EU regulations. Compliance with EU regulations is required in order to avoid the need for a separate oval GB plate. By the way, this concession also applies only within the EU. Outside you still need an oval GB plate even though there may already be a GB on the number plate.