Rules for number plates:

• Must be made from a reflective material.
• Front plates must display solid black characters on a solid white background.
• Rear plates must display solid black characters on a solid yellow background.
• Must be marked with the details of the supplier.
• Must be marked with a BS number – this is ‘BS AU 145e’ for plates fitted after 1 September 2021.
• Characters must be of the correct font and size (79mm tall and 50mm wide for cars, 64mm tall and 44mm wide for motorbikes).
• Characters must be correctly spaced.
• Characters cannot be removable.
• Characters cannot be rearranged or misrepresented.

Are 3D or ‘4D’ number plates legal?

Number plates with raised gel or laser cut acrylic characters are a common sight.

They are legal so long as they meet all requirements listed above.

Raised characters with different coloured or transparent borders are illegal.

The readability of the plate must not be affected. Extreme 3D or ‘4D’ plates are therefore not likely to be legal.