Number plates

Number plate area codes

The first two letters of a current UK plate are the memory tag. The first letter is the region and the second the DVLA local office the number was issued to. It shows where the number was issued, not where the car is kept or where its keeper lives.

DVLA memory tags (INF104). I, Q and Z are not used as the second letter, and some combinations are never issued.
Region	Tags	Local office
A Anglia	AA to AN	Peterborough
	AO to AU	Norwich
	AV to AY	Ipswich
B Birmingham	BA to BY	Birmingham
C Cymru	CA to CO	Cardiff
	CP to CV	Swansea
	CW to CY	Bangor
D Deeside	DA to DK	Chester
	DL to DY	Shrewsbury
E Essex	EA to EY	Chelmsford
F Forest and Fens	FA to FP	Nottingham
	FR to FY	Lincoln
G Garden of England	GA to GO	Maidstone
	GP to GY	Brighton
H Hampshire and Dorset	HA to HJ	Bournemouth
	HK to HY	Portsmouth
K Luton and Northampton	KA to KL	Luton
	KM to KY	Northampton
L London	LA to LJ	Wimbledon
	LK to LT	Stanmore
	LU to LY	Sidcup
M Manchester and Merseyside	MA to MY	Manchester
N North	NA to NO	Newcastle
	NP to NY	Stockton
O Oxford	OA to OY	Oxford
P Preston	PA to PT	Preston
	PU to PY	Carlisle
R Reading	RA to RY	Reading
S Scotland	SA to SJ	Glasgow
	SK to SO	Edinburgh
	SP to ST	Dundee
	SU to SW	Aberdeen
	SX to SY	Inverness
V Severn Valley	VA to VY	Worcester
W West of England	WA to WJ	Exeter
	WK to WL	Truro
	WM to WY	Bristol
Y Yorkshire	YA to YK	Leeds
	YL to YU	Sheffield
	YV to YY	Beverley

How to read the rest of the plate

AZ: memory tag. Region and local office, as in the table. Z is never used as the second letter, so this example (AZ 71 CDE) can never be a real registration.

71: age identifier. The six-month window of first registration. 71 plates.

CDE: three random letters that make the number unique.

A private number can carry any memory tag, so the tag on a used car says little about where it has been. To see how often cars fail their MOT in each part of Great Britain, see MOT pass rates by postcode area.

Other formats

Every age identifier since 2001 · Prefix plates (1983 to 2001) · Suffix plates (1963 to 1983)

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVLA vehicle registration numbering rules (INF104).

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVLA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources