The DVLA has made public the full list of number plates it has banned for 2024, including controversial plates such as *W24 NKR, SL24 GSS, and SH24 GED, for their potentially offensive nature.
With new vehicle registrations kicking off in March and September, registrations following March 1 will incorporate ‘24’, and those after September 1 will include ‘74’. The extensive number of plates released with each new series means that some may inadvertently spell out words or phrases that are rude or unpleasant.
To address this, the DVLA conducts an exhaustive review of all new number plates to ensure any offensive plates are withheld from issuance.
Tony Clark, a number plate connoisseur and Marketing Manager at Plates4Less, executed a Freedom of Information request to reveal which plates were excluded by the DVLA for the ‘24’ series, due to start on March 1, for being ‘Too Rude for the Road’.
The enquiry exposed a long list of plate combinations that were deemed unsuitable, including BO24 LOK, FA24 NNY, AS24 HLE, SH24 GGY, SK24 NKZ, and PE24 VRT.
Tony remarked, “Rude or humorous private plates have always been popular, and can be a lot of fun. People choose private plates like these to customise their vehicles without personalising them. Some want to shock and others want to amuse their fellow road users”.
He also noted, “Sometimes, the DVLA restrictions just lead to people being more creative, and trying to find rude plates that the DVLA didn’t think to ban.”
Plates4Less has noticed a significant trend in searches for rude or offensive words, averaging 345 such searches a day. The ‘C word’ specifically is the 29th most frequent search, with about 21 daily searches, and ‘F*ck’ is searched for 12.42 times per day.
Tony added, “Customers use our website just to find funny plates and share them with friends, which we encourage! We even have a sharing tool built-in to make this easier.
“Outside of rude registrations, some of the most popular searches we get are names, like Sam, Dan, and Amy.”
While the DVLA diligently works to screen out offensive number plates, Plates4Less has compiled a list of cheeky yet legal plates, such as S3XXX, OH69, FUN, OO69AAH, and PEN155. To view more, click here.
