Roads minister Stephen Ladyman has unveiled new theft resistant number plates, to help combat car cloning and ID theft.

An estimated 33,000 number plates were stolen during 2004, according to police data, with many more thefts going unreported. Many of these plates are subsequently used to disguise vehicles used in serious criminal activity.

The DVLA has worked with number plate manufacturers to agree an industry standard for ‘anti-theft’ plates. Plates will only meet the standard if they cannot be removed within three minutes or cannot be reused after removal.