1HRH and 1O car plates auctioned

Anonymous buyers secured the 1 O and 1 HRH plates

Two distinctive car registration plates have been auctioned for a total of more than £320,000.

The plate 1 O sold for £210,242, the fourth highest price paid to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

This fell short of expectations that it would beat the DVLA record of £254,000, set in 2006 for 51 NGH (Singh).

The registration 1 HRH fetched £113,815 on Thursday, as part of the DVLA auction of 1,600 plates at Whittlebury Hall hotel, Northamptonshire.

"The value of a number plate is increased the fewer letters and digits it has because it makes it rarer," said a DVLA spokesman.

He said that the 1 O plate was "about as rare as it gets".

The agency set its highest ever reserve price for the plate, of £10,000.

The Berkshire-based businessman who bought the regal-sounding 1 HRH said that he had been "determined to keep it in British hands".

TOP 10 DVLA SELLERS 51 NGH = £254,000 (2006) 1 RH = £247,000 (2008) K1 NGS = £231,000 (1993) 1 O = £210,242 (2009) 1 A = £200,000 (1989) 1 OO = £197,000 (2006) 6 B = £130,000 (2008) 1 HRH = £113,815 (2009) S1 NGH = £108,000 (1998) 1 RR = £106,000 (1995)

DVLA number plate auctions have raised more than £1.3bn for the Treasury since their introduction in 1989.

The second highest price was £247,000 paid last year by retired Surrey-based businessman Rob Harverson for the 1 RH plate.

People can buy an individual plate from DVLA Personalised Registrations at any time and there are just over 30 million registrations currently available.

It also holds about six auctions a year, which feature distinctive dateless, current and older-style registrations.

Private sales of personalised number plates have raised higher prices, with the registration F1 selling for more than £400,000 last year.