New Cameras Expose Thousands of Illegal "Ghost Plates" on UK Roads

A new camera system being trialled on motorways in south-east England has detected thousands of illegal registration plates, according to an investigation by BBC Panorama. The plates in question have been altered specifically to prevent automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems from reading them, undermining a technology that is central to policing, traffic enforcement and crime detection across the country.

The findings shed light on a growing problem that experts say puts the public at serious risk. ANPR cameras are used to enforce speed limits and low emission zones, as well as to track criminals and organised crime networks. When plates cannot be read, those functions are compromised. One former government advisor told Panorama that illegal plates are endangering the public and are far too easy to obtain.

The UK operates one of the largest ANPR networks in the world, with 14,000 camera sites capturing roughly 100 million number plates every day. Despite this scale, many experts believe the system is struggling to keep pace with the tactics employed by drivers who are determined to avoid being identified.

Two distinct methods are at the centre of the problem. The first involves deliberately using false plates that clone the registration number of another vehicle, meaning at least two cars on the road share identical details while only one is legitimate. The second method uses so-called "ghost plates," which display the correct details for a vehicle but are manufactured from reflective materials that make them difficult or impossible for most motorway cameras to read. Both types appear entirely normal to the naked eye.

MAV Systems, one of the main suppliers of ANPR technology, has been testing a new camera designed to identify and read ghost plates. At a test site just outside London near the Dartford Crossing, the system recorded an average of more than 1,000 ghost plates per day over several months. Two other sites have been operating for nearly two years. At one location near the M25, detections climbed from 1,000 a day to almost 2,000 a day, while at another near the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone, the system flagged more than 400 plates daily.

The human cost of the issue has been laid bare by families who say their lives have been devastated by road deaths in which illegal plates played a part. Sharon Gannon's son, Jason Wallis, died in a crash in Buckinghamshire in 2023. Wallis and his brother-in-law, Lewis Baker, had been riding motorbikes at high speed when they both crashed into a car. The car driver was unhurt. Baker survived and was later jailed for 15 months for dangerous driving. In court, he admitted using a device to hide his number plate from public view and said he and Wallis had ridden at high speed on more than 100 occasions. Speaking about the impact on her family, Gannon said the crash "has broken us all."

A second case from 2025 involved 81-year-old Graham Slinn, who was killed on a pedestrian crossing when a car with cloned plates struck him at high speed. The driver, 20-year-old Cain Byrne, was unlicensed and uninsured and had inhaled nitrous oxide minutes before the collision. He was identified only after police examined hours of CCTV footage, including a camera that captured him attaching the illegal plates to his car. Byrne was jailed for 11 years and six months for causing death by dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

Nicola Timmis, Slinn's daughter, described cloned plates as a "gateway drug" that enables drivers to take increasingly dangerous risks. She said the crime may appear harmless at first but escalates, ultimately costing lives. "It is not a victimless crime," she told Panorama. Her comments reflect a broader concern that the ease of obtaining illegal plates encourages behaviour that would otherwise be deterred by the knowledge of being traced.

The consequences go beyond road safety. Tony Porter, a former senior counter-terrorism officer who has advised the government on surveillance cameras, said cloned and ghost plates undermine the police's ability to track organised criminals. He argued that officers need an effective ANPR system that does not contain weaknesses and does not expose the public to risk. The concern is that criminals who cannot be identified by camera are effectively invisible to a key tool of modern investigation.

The minister responsible for vehicle registration across the UK has confirmed that a national plan has been instigated to understand how widespread the problem of illegal number plates has become and to determine what can be done about it. The announcement signals official recognition that the issue may be more extensive than previously understood, and that current enforcement measures are insufficient.

Undercover filming by Panorama also revealed how easy and inexpensive it is to buy plates without any background checks. This finding suggests that the supply chain for illegal plates operates with few safeguards, allowing drivers to acquire the means to evade detection with minimal effort or risk. The programme, titled "Ghost Plates: Drivers Cheating the Law," investigates how cloned and ghost number plates are leaving innocent motorists facing fines, debt collection threats and years of stress. It is available on BBC iPlayer and airs on BBC One at 20:00 on Monday 28 September, and on BBC Two in Northern Ireland.