***WARNING*** Number Plate Thefts.....

....Not from my beloved Range Rover but from my 7'er

A couple of days ago my rear number plate was stolen over night (sometime between 00.30 - 06.45) and the front was attempted but du to 15 years of rust the screws were impossible to remove.

Notified Surrey Police in the morning and they have indicated that thefts of number plates are on the rise in Surrey.

Just had a follow up call from Surrey Police saying last night they stopped a vehicle fitted with cloned plates and has been passed to Surrey CID for investigation - which is great news that the thieves have been caught.

So be mindful of your security arrangements and fit either anti-theft plates or fit anti-tamper screws....do whatever you can to secure your vehicle, theft of any type is not pleasant to have to deal with.

A few years ago my Classic was stolen and used to try and steal a trailer loaded with riding tackle from one of the riding schools up the road.....I was devastated.

Not trying to scare monger....just a caution.

Number plate thefts for fuel normally, cloned plates for stealing vehicles

Plates have to be riveted on in France, not such a bad idea.

Yes but surely just as easy to take off with a cordless drill.

danny6801 said:

Yes but surely just as easy to take off with a cordless drill.

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Noisy and takes time, but yes they are not too hard to remove.

If your plates have been nicked you might want a letter confirming it from the police. Otherwise you'll be stopped at every ANPR checkpoint and amass speeding tickets etc like you wouldn't believe.

A few years ago my brother had his taken from a transit van
Someone manged to run up £1000 in fuel driveoffs over a month
Strange but around the same time there was a travellers camp about a mile away
Not accusing anyone but .......

gfromleeds said:

A few years ago my brother had his taken from a transit van
Someone manged to run up £1000 in fuel driveoffs over a month
Strange but around the same time there was a travellers camp about a mile away
Not accusing anyone but .......

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Possibly some local upstanding citizen trying to discredit the law abiding travellers.

Heard of people stealing plates to bomb up the motorway without getting caught speeding. Most cloners just use pen and paper and write car details plus plate down then make up new plates! That's how my Jetta was cloned. Police caught them because I had modded mine and declared the transplant. A knowledgeable copper twigged the one at a cruise wasn't mine because it still had the 1.8 GTI lump in..

Lucky man.

Some time ago I ended up in court because an overly keen copper decided to try and make the evidence fit. Took my boss and several other witnesses to prove it couldn't possibly have been me because I was at work. The copper's defence when it became obvious what had happened? Cannot remember. Is this your signature? Cannot remember. What is your name? Cannot remember. Fortunately it was thrown out and I was awarded costs but around about that time I completely lost all respect for the law and any idea of justice in this country. The female magistrate wanted to make an example of me for forcing it to court because my actions implied a copper had lied. Too f*cking right. And if my brief hadn't told me I'd go straight to jail if I so much as suggested it then I'd have made it pretty damn explicit as well. Pretty much back to the days of privilege as far as I can see. Gone a bit off there but 10 years later I'm still annoyed.

I'm still surprised people nick plates when you can buy legal ones on eBay without any documents or identification for around £14.

turrican said:

I'm still surprised people nick plates when you can buy legal ones on eBay without any documents or identification for around £14.

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But they have to pay and send them somewhere, which leaves a trail.

turrican said:

I'm still surprised people nick plates when you can buy legal ones on eBay without any documents or identification for around £14.

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tomcat59alan said:

But they have to pay and send them somewhere, which leaves a trail.

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Caravan places used to allow you to buy plates and stick on letters. but stopped as people used them to alter their own plate or clone others. Machines only cost £90ish to buy.