DVLA bans hundreds more 2025 number plates

DVLA data released following a Freedom of Information request by Regtransfers.co.uk has revealed the hundreds of number plates that will be withheld from issue in a forthcoming registration series. The new '75' registrations will appear on cars from 1st September, but 436 registration character combinations from the series have been banned by DVLA because they may be seen as offensive, provocative or otherwise unsuitable for release.

In September 2024, Regtransfers reported that 210 specific character combinations would be censored and removed from the first batch of 2025 registration numbers, the '25' registrations. The newly announced list will bring the total number of specific banned combinations to 646.

"Hidden" combinations

Some of the combinations on the banned list contain "wildcard" characters. For example, the asterisks in the censored combination **75 HAG indicate that all registrations ending in 75 HAG will be withheld from release, regardless of which two characters may occur before the numerical year code. This means that the actual number of withheld registrations is much greater than the 436 explicitly listed.

Similarly, use of wildcard characters in the published list from our September 2024 article means that the effective number of combinations banned from the release of the '24' registrations was much higher than the published total of 210.

What's banned this time?

As always, the combinations that are being withheld are those that may seem to convey something offensive, inflammatory, insulting, obscene or otherwise troublesome. DVLA regularly withholds plates because of perceived references to violence, terrorism, warfare, drugs, crime, sexual orientation, sexual activity, gender identity, religion, race or politics.

As one scans the list of withheld 75 numbers, it can be quite an effort to decode the message that disqualified some combinations from release. Many examples are such poor representations of those meanings that the beholder would need to be a GCHQ cryptographer or similar to stand any chance of being offended. So, bear in mind that DVLA tends to err on the side of caution, and some registrations in the list may have been banned for reasons that aren't obvious to most of us.

By way of example, let's take a block of numbers more or less at random from DVLA's list.

• AU75 WTS
• AU75 WTZ
• BA75 ARD
• BA75 ERD
• BA75 HTT
• BA75 SHT
• BA75 TAD
• BA75 TRD
• BA75 TTD
• BA75 TUD

AU75 WTS and AU75 WTZ may appear to be a reference to the infamous Auschwitz complex in Poland, where over a million people were murdered by the Nazi regime during WWII. The reasoning behind withholding these two combinations seems very clear.

BA75 HTT and BA75 SHT both bear a resemblance to the slang term "bat sh*t", meaning crazy, and the rest of the combinations in that block look a little like the word "b*stard".

Scanning the rest of the list we see other clear examples of what DVLA may typically block from issue. LE75 KLL ("Let's kill") and LE75 LSD ("Let's LSD") can both be construed as encouraging criminality.

Playing catch up

As society changes, so do the criteria that apply to DVLA's censorship process. That is illustrated by the inclusion in the list of registrations referencing divisive political issues such as Brexit and EU membership. In that context, EU75 OUT, EU75 SHT, EU75 WAR, EU75 YES may be seen as provocative to some people.

Shifting attitudes and perceptions mean that some terms once seen as harmless or trivial are now considered insensitive or insulting. The severity of ableist, sexual and racial slurs changes as society changes, but also as language itself changes. DVLA has to try to balance all these considerations, and more, when compiling the list of combinations that will be excluded from release.

It's all in the mind

Of course, car registration numbers do not intentionally spell words or convey any message. UK number plates contain a mixture of random characters and specific codes that tell when and where a car was registered. There is nothing inherently offensive about any number plate character combination, because any word, name or message seen on the plate exists only in the viewer's imagination. Thanks to the human eye and brain working together as a highly adept pattern-matching system, we are just really good at spotting resemblances - including apparent words on number plates.

This human talent may be the cause of a few headaches and restless nights for those responsible for censoring each registrations release but, for the rest of us, it's the basis of an enjoyable hobby that brings people together in enthusiasts' clubs and at rallies. For some of us it drives the demand that keeps us in employment and makes our businesses possible. For at least one of us, it provides a topic for blog posts.

Watch this space

The full list of withheld 75 registrations as published by DVLA appears on this page. The list of numbers excluded from the earlier 25 release may be seen in our previous blog post on the subject.

Regtransfers will publish future banned lists as soon as they are released, so please check our blog regularly.