RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 Got a letter today from Bedford council saying I'd got a bus lane charge Thing is was nowhere near Bedford and they sent a picture which although not great resolution clearly shows the front number plate having two black capped screws in the white area and no border to the lettering I've reported it to Norfolk police and given an incident reference Probably get stopped quite a bit now as gone on national database However be on the lookout for NA03YFV, X-power grey ZT If fellow members of the owners club wave I always wave back so if waved at and no response probably an uninsured, untaxed and more that likely untested scumbag! 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Are there any photos online of your car without the number plate blurred out? Could be where they cloned it from. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 16, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 Possibly from the garage where I bought it 18 months ago Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Was it the same model that it was cloned to? Could be easily found on gov.uk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Some pics of it online- https://cazana.com/uk/car/NA03YFV Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 16, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 13 minutes ago, stewartingram said: Was it the same model that it was cloned to? Could be easily found on gov.uk Its a ZT but camera was black and white and poor resolution other than number plate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 16, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 8 minutes ago, royaloak said: Some pics of it online- https://cazana.com/uk/car/NA03YFV That's scarey , but pictures are from the dealer. It hasn't got to that mileage yet and is actually in better condition now 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) 5 minutes ago, russ p said: That's scarey , but pictures are from the dealer. It hasn't got to that mileage yet and is actually in better condition now It was a search using your actual reg number, trying a search for MG ZT or X-power grey ZT didnt throw anything up so not too much of an issue, they would need to know your actual reg no to find the picture. Might simply be a case of them using a number plate they know is active and it just happens to be yours. Edited January 16, 2020 by royaloak 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 08221 Posted January 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 Someone I work with recently had this happen too when some cloned her personalised plate. She had a right battle to prove it was not her car and the number plate had been cloned but the rozzers eventually caught up with the culprits and felt their collars. Felt sorry for her as it caused her loads of unwanted stress, hope it does not do the same to you. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 16, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 3 minutes ago, royaloak said: It was a search using your actual reg number, trying a search for MG ZT or X-power grey ZT didnt throw anything up so not too much of an issue, they would need to know your actual reg no to find the picture. Might simply be a case of them using a number plate they know is active and it just happens to be yours. I wonder if they have seen mine out and about, it was the most popular engine and colour for a ZT. I checked the rest of our cars and one of them came up with a picture but not of the plate and the others just a brief history Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris M Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 You could balwaus buy uoirsel a cherished number from DVLA. Costs about £400. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 16, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 2 minutes ago, 08221 said: Someone I work with recently had this happen too when some cloned her personalised plate. She had a right battle to prove it was not her car and the number plate had been cloned but the rozzers eventually caught up with the culprits and felt their collars. Felt sorry for her as it caused her loads of unwanted stress, hope it does not do the same to you. Norfolk police said there shouldn't be much problem proving it wasn't me and if necessary they could track the radio sim card 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 16, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 1 minute ago, Chris M said: You could balwaus buy uoirsel a cherished number from DVLA. Costs about £400. I'd like to keep it original if possible as its basically a modern classic 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Devil Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Happened to me, 'my van' was in a crash in Luton...driver legged it, first I heard was from my insurer...straight on to Beds Police to get them to do a vin check, that end sorted easily, weeks of messing around with my insurer though, not my job to sort really but you end up having to. On the flip side when my van was nicked it eventually came back to me with 3 sets of plates in it....phone call to GM Police...'Do you want these or to make a note of numbers?' Still waiting to hear back 3 years later...... 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted January 16, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 16, 2020 Be worth putting a vertical piece of white insulating tape near to one end of both number plates (and take dated photos with a newspaper in the shot). That way, and until scrote is caught, if it happens again it'll be blatantly obvious it wasn't you. Might help if you just happened to also be in that area on that day...... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted January 16, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 5 minutes ago, Red Devil said: ..phone call to GM Police...'Do you want these or to make a note of numbers?' Still waiting to hear back 3 years later...... With GM Police you were lucky to get them to answer the phone call let alone any follow up. 28 minutes ago, God's Wonderful Railway 1835 said: I know someone who this happened to a few years ago when he got a parking summons............. I had a parking charge notice from a private clamping and removal 'parking enforcer' some years ago. I was supposed to be parked at an apartment site in Birkenhead. The DVLA had given out my details in error so I told the company that I would be quite happy to pay their charge if they still had the car as the rather nice black BMW looked much better than my old Citroen. I got a copy of the original request to the DVLA for details and the company also had a photo of the offending car so proving my innocence was easy. Following a complaint to the Information Commissioner the DVLA offered me a paltry £25 compensation for my inconvenience. I told them to put it in a place where there isn't any daylight. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnofwessex Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 There is a major issue about the security of the UK number plate system. They should be treated like passports rather than available from countless backstreet stores, and properly secured to the vehicle. Sweden doesnt seem to have any issues with its system for issueing plates. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 16, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 21 minutes ago, polybear said: Be worth putting a vertical piece of white insulating tape near to one end of both number plates (and take dated photos with a newspaper in the shot). That way, and until scrote is caught, if it happens again it'll be blatantly obvious it wasn't you. Might help if you just happened to also be in that area on that day...... I sent them a dated picture of my car with the number plate. If they want to push it they can come and examine the bumper to realise the plates in the picture have never been fitted to this car 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 16, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 16, 2020 14 minutes ago, johnofwessex said: There is a major issue about the security of the UK number plate system. They should be treated like passports rather than available from countless backstreet stores, and properly secured to the vehicle. Sweden doesnt seem to have any issues with its system for issueing plates. The uk dvla regularly shoots itself in the foot. The number plate font changed in 2001 but they won't allow plates being renewed in the original font yet their are countless people myself included that refuse to have the new font on pre 01 vehicles and have to go to online shops who will do a non road legal 'show' plate in the old font. I would gladly give all my details to have a plate renewed in the old font but as we cant we just use these dealers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coppercap Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 3 minutes ago, russ p said: The uk dvla regularly shoots itself in the foot. The number plate font changed in 2001 but they won't allow plates being renewed in the original font yet their are countless people myself included that refuse to have the new font on pre 01 vehicles and have to go to online shops who will do a non road legal 'show' plate in the old font. I would gladly give all my details to have a plate renewed in the old font but as we cant we just use these dealers. With the 'show' plates, unlike the new 'legal' plates, there's usually no markings identifying who made them, just as with most pre-2001 plates. Who's to say how long the plates have been fitted? My 1991 bike still has it's original plate on it, no markings on it at all to say who made up the plate. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 17, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2020 9 hours ago, Coppercap said: With the 'show' plates, unlike the new 'legal' plates, there's usually no markings identifying who made them, just as with most pre-2001 plates. Who's to say how long the plates have been fitted? My 1991 bike still has it's original plate on it, no markings on it at all to say who made up the plate. If the DVLA would allow replacement plates in the original font but with markings this problem would go Ironically you are now allowed black plates on vehicles over 40 years old, why people would want these when totally non authentic is anyone's guess 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul13 Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Slightly similar thing happened to a colleague of mine. He was accused of knocking a cyclist off their bike while in a work's van and driving off without leaving details. It caused a whole heap of hassle for him trying to prove it wasn't him to the police, insurance and the company. Turned out the cyclist had written down the reg with one digit wrong and it was the exact same type of van from the same hire company. Caused no end of stress and even our company tried to blame him at first. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 17, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2020 Not heard anything from Bedford council yet, hopefully they will realise it's not my car as their picture of the number plate is clearly different to mine. I supplied them with a picture from a few months ago showing my plate. If they are that bothered they can come and check there are no other holes in the bumper that match the screws on their picture Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 19 hours ago, russ p said: The uk dvla regularly shoots itself in the foot. The number plate font changed in 2001 but they won't allow plates being renewed in the original font yet their are countless people myself included that refuse to have the new font on pre 01 vehicles and have to go to online shops who will do a non road legal 'show' plate in the old font. I would gladly give all my details to have a plate renewed in the old font but as we cant we just use these dealers. The font should be appropriate for when the car was registered, all this having to have the new font on an old car is stupid. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted January 17, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 17, 2020 I remember someone asking on the ‘modern car’ thread why I blank my number plate out when I post pictures on the forum, this is the reason why! 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now