What Car? Q&A - Are dirty plates legal?

Q: As the weather has deteriorated, and as salt has been applied to the roads to stop them icing, I have seen a lot of filthy licence plates around. Some are so dirty that it's impossible to read the number. Is this legal?
David Hunt

A: The Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 states that if a registration mark fixed on a vehicle is in any way ‘obscured or rendered or allowed to become not easily distinguishable’ the owner is guilty of an offence.

So allowing your number plate to become unreadable is illegal. The punishment for this offence is a fine only, but it is not limited to the standard fixed penalty amount of £60.

Where someone fraudulently obscures the registration mark, they commit an offence that is 'triable either way'. This means that they can be tried in the Magistrates’ or Crown Courts, and they face the possibility of a two-year prison sentence and hefty fine.