PCN for being in a bus lane nowhere near I live
Discussion
I received a PCN letter from Sandwell Council with pictures of a Car going through a Bus-Gate in New Street, West Bromwich on the 11th Dec 2018
The car has my registration on, is a black Golf like mine.
Couple of issues
1) I live south of Bristol (not that this really matters)
2) On the day and time this happened I was picking my dog up from the vets in Paulton (Near Radstock in Somerset) after he'd been neutered.
Also - My car is a Golf R 7.5 but on the pictures, the car looks like it has Mk7 headlights. Has my car been cloned do you think ?
I've written to the council using their online dispute portal, explaining the above and told them I'd get a statement from the vets confirming this if they needed it.
Is this worth bothering the police with ? It definitely wasn't me but there's a golf driving round West Bromwich with my plates on !
The car has my registration on, is a black Golf like mine.
Couple of issues
1) I live south of Bristol (not that this really matters)
2) On the day and time this happened I was picking my dog up from the vets in Paulton (Near Radstock in Somerset) after he'd been neutered.
Also - My car is a Golf R 7.5 but on the pictures, the car looks like it has Mk7 headlights. Has my car been cloned do you think ?
I've written to the council using their online dispute portal, explaining the above and told them I'd get a statement from the vets confirming this if they needed it.
Is this worth bothering the police with ? It definitely wasn't me but there's a golf driving round West Bromwich with my plates on !
Speak to the issuing authority in the first instance - double check the reg on the photos, as we often have N & H, M & W or V & Y mis-read by the operator.
Besides, when the dealers we use supplies various fleets of vehicles, it is not that unusual to have two near identical vehicles with only one letter difference on the reg plate.
If it does come back on identical plates, then contact the DVLA in the first instance to see about getting your car re-registered. We've had a few cases like this and the DVLA will update the police, but I never get to hear back what happens beyond that point.
Besides, when the dealers we use supplies various fleets of vehicles, it is not that unusual to have two near identical vehicles with only one letter difference on the reg plate.
If it does come back on identical plates, then contact the DVLA in the first instance to see about getting your car re-registered. We've had a few cases like this and the DVLA will update the police, but I never get to hear back what happens beyond that point.
S11Steve said:
Speak to the issuing authority in the first instance - double check the reg on the photos, as we often have N & H, M & W or V & Y mis-read by the operator.
Besides, when the dealers we use supplies various fleets of vehicles, it is not that unusual to have two near identical vehicles with only one letter difference on the reg plate.
If it does come back on identical plates, then contact the DVLA in the first instance to see about getting your car re-registered. We've had a few cases like this and the DVLA will update the police, but I never get to hear back what happens beyond that point.
The photo of the front is clear as day, the plates are identical.Besides, when the dealers we use supplies various fleets of vehicles, it is not that unusual to have two near identical vehicles with only one letter difference on the reg plate.
If it does come back on identical plates, then contact the DVLA in the first instance to see about getting your car re-registered. We've had a few cases like this and the DVLA will update the police, but I never get to hear back what happens beyond that point.
I'll pop into the local station on Monday.
The car is one of the 'lease specials' so it VW who own it. I presume they have to give consent for any potential re-reg to happen ?
Thanks for all the advise, it really was a head scratcher when I first opened the letter !
juice said:
The photo of the front is clear as day, the plates are identical.
I'll pop into the local station on Monday.
The car is one of the 'lease specials' so it VW who own it. I presume they have to give consent for any potential re-reg to happen ?
Thanks for all the advise, it really was a head scratcher when I first opened the letter !
That could be a genuine error by the supplying dealer, or the GEFCO PDI centre at Sheerness - guessing it has a GK/GL reg prefix? - https://goo.gl/maps/MmBGsnxbft42I'll pop into the local station on Monday.
The car is one of the 'lease specials' so it VW who own it. I presume they have to give consent for any potential re-reg to happen ?
Thanks for all the advise, it really was a head scratcher when I first opened the letter !
Contact VWFS on 0370 010 2022
Edited by S11Steve on Friday 1st February 13:59
the tribester said:
If you're reporting it to the Police, also expect the Police to stop you too, when your car pings their ANPR and they come after you thinking they've found a stolen car on false plates.
Watch the Traffic Cops programmes and get ready for a pre-emptive box so you know what to expect!
I think you'll find its called a TPAC actually, i learned this form my years of experience (in watching those programs Watch the Traffic Cops programmes and get ready for a pre-emptive box so you know what to expect!
)the tribester said:
If you're reporting it to the Police, also expect the Police to stop you too, when your car pings their ANPR and they come after you thinking they've found a stolen car on false plates.
Watch the Traffic Cops programmes and get ready for a pre-emptive box so you know what to expect!
This is why the OP should go through the DVLA first - the OP will get a new reg on their car, and the police will be more interested in the cloned vehicle running around on a plate that no longer exists, but will still ping an ANPR systemWatch the Traffic Cops programmes and get ready for a pre-emptive box so you know what to expect!
the tribester said:
If you're reporting it to the Police, also expect the Police to stop you too, when your car pings their ANPR and they come after you thinking they've found a stolen car on false plates.
Watch the Traffic Cops programmes and get ready for a pre-emptive box so you know what to expect!
Was expecting this to happen after reporting one of our vans plates being on a stolen vehicle which we got a parking ticket through the post for. Having driven the length and breadth of the country and regularly working around Central London including up and down Whitehall and Parliament Square, not once have I had pull. Watch the Traffic Cops programmes and get ready for a pre-emptive box so you know what to expect!
The Policd will put a Marker on the PNC which will be on ANPR
It will state that genuine veh is with RK in Somerset .. and believed a cloned vehicle is in the Birmingham area
It will request stop/checks in the Birmingham area of vehicle bearing that vrm
They will probably tell you that you may be stopped but that it is unlikely .. unless you go to Birmingham!
Any stop would be low key .. unless in Birmingham!
ANPR back office is pretty clever and they will very quickly and easily know if two cars are running the same plate and where they are
I’d report it to the police and get it logged ASAP it will save you a lot of grief in the long run
Any further tickets/Summons .. just quote the police incident number back to them
It will state that genuine veh is with RK in Somerset .. and believed a cloned vehicle is in the Birmingham area
It will request stop/checks in the Birmingham area of vehicle bearing that vrm
They will probably tell you that you may be stopped but that it is unlikely .. unless you go to Birmingham!
Any stop would be low key .. unless in Birmingham!

ANPR back office is pretty clever and they will very quickly and easily know if two cars are running the same plate and where they are
I’d report it to the police and get it logged ASAP it will save you a lot of grief in the long run
Any further tickets/Summons .. just quote the police incident number back to them
I had a Discovery of mine cloned once, the driver of it racked upa couple of motoring offences in one afternoon, first I hear was a camera speeding offence, I sent a letter back saying not me, haven't been in that town for over 3 years (although it is only 30 miles away) also posted photos of front & back of my car. I got a letter back stating that they've compared the camera photo with mine and it was obviously not the same car, so cancelled as far as I was concerned. Move on a week, and I get pulled by local traffic car, he looks around the car, decides it's not the cloned one, thanks me for stopping and gone. last I ever heard of it.
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