A nationwide crackdown on illegal number plates is being launched to help tackle organised crime and improve road safety.
The new campaign, funded by the Department for Transport (DfT), will see a dedicated roads policing team focus on offenders using illegal plates to evade fines, transport illicit goods, and avoid detection by law enforcement.
The National Roads Policing Coordination Centre (NRPCC) will bring together police forces across England to share intelligence, improve collaboration, and make better use of data.
Justin Madders, roads minister, said: "We’re cracking down on illegal number plates with new policing resource and innovative tech.
"Illegal number plates are used for crimes from evading parking charges to drug trafficking and we’re stepping in to protect drivers.
"This is a signal to anyone using illegal number plates that their time is up.
"We will catch you and our roads and streets will be safer for it."
The NRPCC will also trial new technology, including specialised goggles designed to detect number plates that have been tampered with to make them unreadable by cameras.
Illegal number plates are commonly used to evade penalties for speeding, parking, or entering clean air zones, and are frequently linked to organised crime.
Such vehicles are harder for police to trace when stolen or involved in serious offences.
Improved detection of illegal plates will help police track down offenders more quickly, making roads safer and reducing crime more broadly.
The government’s broader Road Safety Strategy, its first in more than a decade, aims to save thousands of lives and is considering even tougher action on illegal number plates.
The strategy has already consulted on stronger penalties, reviewing number plate standards, and improved enforcement.
Illegal number plates take several forms, including cloned plates—where a vehicle carries a registration copied from another legitimate vehicle—‘ghost plates’ made invisible to cameras using transparent film, and vehicles with missing plates.
Drivers caught using incorrectly displayed number plates can be fined up to £1,000.
Chief Superintendent Marc Clothier, deputy national coordinator for the NRPCC, said: "Through the National Roads Policing Coordination Centre, our mission is to tackle the biggest risks to road safety, enhancing and developing the police response to criminality both on and off the roads.
"The police forces involved in our ghost plates operation have shown how effective a targeted and intelligence-led approach is in tackling offenders as well as educating and supporting drivers in ensuring their number plates are compliant.
"The testing and sharing of new approaches and developing innovation has been incredibly valuable and we look forward to building on this as we progress to our next operational focus.
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"Thanks to the funding from DfT, we have a valuable opportunity to support road safety and roads policing across the UK with enhanced national coordination, consistency, collaboration and communication across policing, government and the wider road safety community."
Sarah Jones, policing and crime minister, said: "Illegal number plates are not a victimless offence.
"They are used by criminals to avoid detection, move illegal goods and stay one step ahead of law enforcement.
"We are determined to give police every advantage in the fight against serious and organised crime, while making our roads safer for everyone."
The crackdown supports ongoing work by the DVSA and DVLA, who are working closely with police to improve identification and enforcement of illegal number plates.
This includes investigations into businesses supplying illegal plates and supporting roadside police operations.
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