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How To Fight Number Plate Cloning09-Dec-2011

I recently received a parking summons from a local authority and it is clear that my vehicle number plate has been cloned. My car was never at the location cited. I hope I have cleared up this matter with the authority concerned, but the culprit presumably remains free to park at will. Do you recommend any course of action in these circumstances? Could those draftingthe Protection of Freedoms Bill not have considered the eventuality that victims of this scam could frequently be defending themselves in court while the perpetrator goes scot-free?

As soon as an issue of cloning is raised, a marker must be put on the registration by the DVLA, which must then refuse to divulge the registered keeper. JA of Dorking wrote, "Anyone can obtain sets of number plates without showing a V5 to the maker. I had a word with my mother's MP, in Chislehurst, and was told me that the current law on obtaining number plates is in disarray, particularly in big cities, like London, Manchester and Liverpool. The law has broken down because of the intrinsic dishonesty of some people in the motor trade. So many people have unrestricted access to the equipment that makes the number plates that the law is virtually impossible to enforce. A proposal to get MoT garages to stamp plates was mooted, but the scheme was abandoned because of the bureaucracy and cost involved." Perhaps the increased use of number plate recognition to hound and punish motorists has led to this sad state of affairs.

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