Illegal number plates under scrutiny

Police are targeting vehicles with illegal number plates

Motorists who use illegal number plates are being targeted in a new police campaign.

Vehicles with altered, illegible or obscured registration plates will be stopped by Northamptonshire Police over the next month.

Operation Holiday aims to catch motorists who use number plates to cheat speed cameras or avoid detection by the police.

Inspector Dave Thacker said number plates which have been altered to spell out words would also be targeted.

Escape prosecution

"More and more people appear to be altering number plates by reducing the size of letters or numbers or closing spaces between them," he said.

"This is either for vanity purposes - to spell out a name or word - or in an attempt to escape prosecution for speeding or other criminal offences."

The campaign is part of Northamptonshire Police's ongoing scheme to reduce fatal accidents on the county's roads.

Inspector Thacker added: "It is an offence to have number plates that do not conform to the appropriate specifications.

"We know that law-abiding motorists are annoyed by others who try to evade the law, commit crime and put others lives at risk.

"The aim of the operation is to deny criminals the use of the roads and improve road safety for the benefit of all road users."

Officers can issue motorists who break the law with a £30 fixed penalty notice or report drivers for prosecution.

In the past year more than 60 motorists on the county's roads have been issued with penalty notices for number plate offences.