New ’73’ registration plates will be available from next week – but more than 200 combinations have been banned as they are deemed offensive.
Potential number plates are examined by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, and any which ‘may cause offence, embarrassment or are in poor taste’ are not made available.
This year, there are many number plates which express hatred, beginning with AN73 which could represent ‘anti’ or HA73, potentially meaning ‘hate’.
These possibilities lead to some of the more offending registration plates such as AN73 VAX, AN73 USA, HA73 MEN and even HA73 HRH, referring to the monarch.
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Not allowed: More than 200 of the new ’73’ registration plates have been banned by the DVLA
However, not all HA73 plates are banned. Indeed, eBay is showing that some private dealers may have already snapped up 73 plates with HA73 prefixes.
For example, one sellers claims to have HA73 AFC, HA73 CFC, HA73 CTY and HA73 WHU – which could be transcribed as hate Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and West Ham United respectively – and has listed on eBay for £4,450.
The latest banned number plates have been revealed in a Freedom of Information request by Carwow.
Some of the most blatantly rude new combinations which have been made unavailable include EA73 POO, BE73 END, and AS73 HOL.
The DVLA has even scuppered the perfect two-car garage for the head of MI5, with both TE73ROR and TH73EAT on the banned list – and your local cosmetic surgeon will be gutted they can’t have a gleaming NO73 JOB.
Paul Barker, Carwow’s managing editor, said: ‘As well as being big business for the Treasury, personal number plates are a bit of fun for many drivers in the UK, and this list shows where the line is in terms of plate humour.
‘You might think it’s BU73 SHT, but you wouldn’t be allowed to have that as your car number plate.’
He added: ‘There’s an influx of used cars as new car sales shoot up, which means plenty of choice for consumers, even if you’re not looking for the newest thing.’
Senior members from the DVLA have a bi-annual meeting at their base in Swansea to choose those it wants to remove from sale for being too rude.
The team of experts examines any potentially offensive meanings that can be created using the latest registration number and painstakingly tries to stop anything that could be deemed insulting being available.
Rude number plates that might slip through the DVLA’s net ahead of the change can still be rescinded at a later date, but the DVLA said ‘the vast majority of registration numbers are made available’, as most are unlikely to cause offence.
In June, we revealed how the private plate market is now believed to be worth around £2billion – and it has turned the most desirable plates into lucrative investment opportunities.
Specialists are now plunging hundreds of thousands of pounds into the personalised plate market to get their hands on the most valuable combinations – often those featuring two initials and a number, which experts say are ‘booming’ right now.
In fact, one expert tells us they are delivering higher returns than traditional investments like watches, jewellery and classic cars.
Bad taste: This is the full list of ’73’ number plates drivers won’t be allowed to buy
