The DVLA is proposing a revision of regulations governing number plate suppliers less than two years after it introduced strict new rules to combat car cloning with false registrations.

Motor retailers who fit own-branded plates to vehicles for onward sale will be exempted from the need to obtain documentary evidence, although they must still be registered.

And suppliers will no longer be forced to keep records of the payment method and cheque/credit card number – details which, according to some factors, leave customers open to fraud.

One of the biggest suppliers of plates, Sandhurst Autoprint, is currently in talks with the DVLA to develop tamper evident and electronic chipped plates, as further counter-measures.