Motorists urged to use £2.50 tool after number plate thefts with thousands in UK at risk
Road users have been urged to consider installing a simple tool on their car to avoid the heavy risk of being affected by number plate theft.
Drivers could reduce the risk of being affected by number plate theft using a cost-effetive £2.50 solution with thousands falling victim every year.
For many road users, number plates may look pretty worthless with a set of new plates available for under £20.
However, taking a number plate can have serious benefits for criminals looking to get away with committing motoring offences and other crimes.
Police and the DVLA usually identify vehicles using CCTV or Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology.
Having a stolen plate on a vehicle means any parking tickets, speeding fines or worse are directed to an innocent person’s door instead of the perpetrators.
There are over 50,000 number plate thefts every year in the UK with over 1,000 contacting the DVLA to report their vehicle had been wrongly linked to incidents.
Police in Folkestone have taken action into their own hands by offering free tamper-proof secrets to secure plates.
It comes after a series of incidents in the region with the front and rear plates taken from a vehicle last month.
Community Safety Unit Inspector for Folkestone and Hythe, James Wyles, said: “Stolen number plates are often used by criminals hoping that they will help shield them from swift identification when carrying out further offences.
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“As part of our strategy to tackle this type of crime, we’re encouraging motorists to take up the offer of the free kits - which I am pleased we are able to provide thanks to Safer Streets 5 funding.
“Using the tamper-proof screws can help to ensure the security of vehicle plates, as can preventative measures such as parking vehicles in a garage or well-lit secure area whenever possible.”
Those unable to get hold of free anti-tamper kits can purchase similar equipment online for as little as £2.50.
According to Halfords, anti-tamper tools are “virtually non-removable without the specialist locking tool”.
Insight Security explained: “One simple way to protect your car number plates against unauthorised removal, is to replace the existing screws holding the plates in position, with one-way security screws.
“These screws are a straight replacement for the existing conventional number plate screws, and can be inserted using a normal flat blade screwdriver, so you won't need to invest in special tools.
“The security screw is cleverly designed with a drive face only, so it's simple to do up, but if you try to undo it, the screwdriver simply slips off the screw head."
