UK Number Plates - What is Legal

There has been alot of controversy of what is legal and what is not legal when it comes to number plates on vehicles, so we will try to keep it as simple and easy to understand as possible. We could just attach the PDF document but we will break it down in our own format for easier understanding.

We are now on BSAU145e as the legal standard for number plates with the previous version being BSAU145d. We will go into these to and explain the differences In another post and when they came into force and why you sometimes see slightly different plates on some vehicles.

The standard printed number plates now has to have a reflective front white and reflective rear yellow that conforms to the latest BSAU145e standard and the acrylic covering for the reflective to also have been tested to meet the same standard for durability and wear. The standard plates are 520mm x 111mm for most of the vehicles on the road, some suvs and other vehicles have different sized number plates but the digit sizes and spacing are still to be the same unless on motorbikes which again we will cover in another post.

Now on to the digits. These must be of the font Charles Wright, be of one colour of solid black and no other shades, digit height must be 79mm, 50mm wide (apart from 1 & I) with stroke width 14mm. The spacing between the digits must be 11mm and 33mm between the groups of digits. There must also be 11mm minimum between number plate edge and the first digit and the same for the last digit to the edge of the number plate. The plates must also have printed at the bottom the registered number plate makers name , post code and the BSAU145e markings . These must be printed 7mm minimum from the bottom of the digits and also must be no more than 178mm in length and 13mm in height . Number plates need to carry these markings and comply to all of the above to be legal for highway use and MOT compliant. You can also carry 1 of four flag emblems legally on the number plate which we will cover in a separate post.

Borders around the plate are also legal with a max width of 6mm and any colour but must be permanent.

We hope this clears some of the questions you may have and look out for our next post covering the BSAU145e and previous BSAU145d differences.