numberplates stolen from wifes car...

[vx220]

...reported within a couple of hours, but what can we expect (london area, so bus lanes, speed cameras, congestion charging, forecourt theft) and how do local authorities respond to this sort of thing when challenged?

any experiences?

will they pursue tickets/fines if we have a crime number/receipt for new plates? and for how long? ie, how do we prove it wasn't her maybe six months down the line!?

would it be a good idea to pre-empt it by contacting local authority before anything is reported? or go straight out and buy a private plate?

[TheEnd]

Just tell the police, and probably carry around some decent ID, as there's a chance you'll get pulled every now and again just to check.

[sjg]

I had this happen to me (north London), the police got me to set a password and they flagged the plates to be stopped if seen, and if it was me I could just give the password and be on my way. Never happened, and I didn't get any other hassles despite expecting it. Seems they used my plates to steal fuel from the garage around the corner then presumably dumped them.

As long as you have a crime reference number, if you were to get anything fines/offences that weren't you then you just write back with the reference. I think with the proliferation of numberplate-reading cameras these days plus ANPR in police cars, on DVLA vans, etc they're not likely to be driving about with them on for weeks or months.

[Amused2death]

Maybe put an unusual sticker in the front and back screens, therefore enabling you to say, and know, it's not your car if a ticket turns up on the doormat?

[FIK]

^^^^ do this, a red triangle or orange disc above the tax disc or behind the rear view mirror. The cops will be able to do a quick check when it flashes up on an ANPR camera.

[MrC986]

This happened to me.....reported it to BIB straight away & a day later the low life who took them used them for stealing fuel from Tescos.....all I had was a call from BIB saying it was being investigated though I never got stopped fortunately to check the car etc. The amusing thing is that I never got stopped driving the 10 miles home with no plates on the day it happened - you can now get no.plates that cant be stolen/reused interestingly.

[anonymous-user]

HURRAY! You now have a really good excuse for a load of speeding and jumping red lights! Get out their and enjoy !!!!! ;-)