Registration Styles

September 2001 has seen the most dramatic change to UK car registrations since 1963, when the alphabetical suffix was introduced to mark the age of a vehicle.

DVLA consider the current system has now run its course and as of 1st September 2001 will be introducing not only a totally new format, but also new regulations in terms of print, size, layout and style of number plates.

The new registration marks will all be made up of seven characters. There are three parts to the registration mark, each with a separate meaning.

In the example above "51" represents the 6 month period from September 2001 to February 2002.
In the"AB" shows that the vehicle was first registered in Anglia (A) at the Peterborough office (B).

• The first two letters show where the vehicle was registered, the local memory tag.
• The two numbers indicate the age of the vehicle, the age identifier.
• The last three letters give a unique identity to a vehicle, the random letters.
  
  
  

  Full List Of Local Memory Tags

  
  From September 2001
  
  
  

  Local Memory Tag Â	DVLA office	Local Identifier
  A	Peterborough	A B C D E F G H J K L M N
  	Norwich	O P R S T U
  	Ipswich	V W X Y
  B	Birmingham	A - Y
  C	Cardiff	A B C D E F G H J K L M N O
  	Swansea	P R S T U V
  	Bangor	W X Y
  D	Chester	A B C D E F G H J K
  	Shrewsbury	L M N O P R S T U V W X Y
  E	Chelmsford	A - Y
  F	Nottingham	A B C D E F G H J K L M N P
  	Lincoln	R S T V W X Y
  G	Maidstone	A B C D E F G H J K L M N O
  	Brighton	P R S T U V W X Y
  H	Bournemouth	A B C D E F G H J
  	Portsmouth	K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y
  		HW Reserved for the Isle of Wight
  K	Luton	A B C D E F G H J K L
  	Northampton	M N O P R S T U V W X Y
  L	Wimbledon	A B C D E F G H J
  	Stanmore	K L M N O P R S T
  	Sidcup	U V W X Y
  M	Manchester	A - Y
  N	Newcastle	A B C D E G H J K L M N O
  	Stockton	P R S T U V W X Y
  O	Oxford	A - Y
  P	Preston	A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T
  	Carlisle	U V W X Y
  R	Reading	A - Y
  S	Glasgow	A B C D E F G H J
  	Edinburgh	K L M N O
  	Dundee	P R S T
  	Aberdeen	U V W
  	Inverness	X Y
  V	Worcester	A - Y
  W	Exeter	A B C D E F G H J
  	Truro	K L
  	Bristol	M N O P R S T U V W X Y
  Y	Leeds	A B C D E F G H J K
  	Sheffield	L M N O P R S T U
  	Beverley	V W X Y

Age Identifier

Age identifiers will continue to change twice yearly in March and September.

Year	March	September
2001		51
2002	02	52
2003	03	53
2004	04	54
2005	05	55
2006	06	56
2007	07	57
2008	08	58
2009	09	59
2010	10	60
2011	11	61
2012	12	62
2013	13	63
2014	14	64