London, UK — Number plate cloning is one of the UK's fastest-growing vehicle crimes, with an estimated 10,000+ cloned plates on the road each year in England and Wales — up 41% since 2021. Criminals copy a legitimate registration onto a duplicate set of plates, then use them to evade ANPR cameras, dodge speeding, congestion and clean-air-zone charges, and commit more serious offences — while the innocent registered keeper receives the fines and penalties.
A Guardian investigation in June 2025 found more than 130 officially registered suppliers willing to sell cloned plates, exposing how easily paper-based identity checks can be bypassed.
"Cloning doesn't start on the street — it starts at the point of manufacture," said Robert Blacker, founder of Protect A Plate. "Today's check is largely paper-based, and it is failing. Our goal is a UK in which a cloned plate simply cannot be manufactured, because the industry itself refuses to be the weak link."
How it works
- Drivers register their plate and VIN to create a secure digital record.
- Registered suppliers check every plate request against that record before manufacture.
- If a plate is flagged — or reported stolen — the owner is alerted instantly and the request is caught before a clone reaches the road.
Protect A Plate is ICO-registered, and the network is open to every registered number plate supplier across the UK.
ABOUT PROTECT A PLATE
Protect A Plate is the UK's vehicle registration verification network. It protects drivers, suppliers, fleets and insurers from number plate cloning, fraud and misuse by verifying every plate request against a live register before a plate is manufactured — and alerting the registered owner instantly if their registration is ever flagged or reported stolen. The goal is a UK in which a cloned plate simply cannot be manufactured, because the industry itself refuses to be the weak link. ICO-registered and UK-based, Protect A Plate serves drivers, suppliers, fleets and insurers at protect-a-plate.co.uk.
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