The number of drivers who have been fined unfairly due to cloned licence plates has sharply risen in the past few years, as new data shows the extent of the issue.
According to an investigation, over 36,000 traffic tickets were cancelled last year due to cloning issues. If each ticket was worth an average of £180, the Government would have to pay back almost £6.5million in cloning errors.
The rise in numbers has prompted the DVLA to work with the National Police Chiefs' Council and other Government officials to help crack down on the fraudulent practice, which involves taking a copy or duplicate of another vehicle's number plate and fixing it to a separate vehicle.
Research found the number of cloning cases was up 64 per cent over the past three years with figures recording a rise from 22,450 in 2021 to 36,794 in 2023.
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The DVLA called on motorists to act if they have their number plates stolen PA The BBC detailed how fines were more common in London with some councils seeing a 1.5 per cent increase in all traffic fines linked to cloned vehicles.
The council with the most clone cases was Hackney which saw nearly two per cent of tickets issued be related to cloned cars.
According to a Freedom of Information request sent to Transport for London, they found more than 16,000 penalties were issued to vehicles due to the cloning mishap.
In the capital, when a vehicle has been identified as having a cloned number plate, a report is created and a marker is added to the police national computer and ANPR databases.
Once the rightful owner has been identified, a letter is sent to them with the accompanying fine, although at this point, they may be able to dispute the penalty.
Vehicle cloning is normally used for criminal activity or to avoid speeding tickets, parking fines, or toll and congestion charges.
Speaking previously to GB News, Alice Hempstead, insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: “Our research found that car cloning in London has more than doubled over the past three years, and unfortunately that's bad news for drivers across the country.”
She explained that insurance premiums are largely based on risk. Due to rising car thefts, cloning, and part-stealing throughout the UK, higher insurance costs could be seen for everyone.
A spokesman for Newham Council offered "great sympathy" to drivers who have become victims of cloning cases and stated that the local authority would continue to cancel fraudulent fines.
If drivers think they have had their plates cloned, they should inform the police and tell them why this may be the case.
Motorists should also report the issue to the DVLA to avoid getting fined for incidents which were not their fault.
Commenting on the rise of cloned plates, the Metropolitan Police said: “The Met has been working to target high-risk areas of criminality where cloned plates are in use.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Drivers should report suspected cloned plates to the police and the DVLA
PA"This activity is a combination of intelligence-led initiatives and responding to reported incidents from vehicle owners.”
The police detailed how between June 2022 and June 2023, 464 cloned vehicles were identified, resulting in 217 arrests. In addition, the police task forces identified 228 vehicles with cloned plates which led to further arrests.