The ‘ghost’ plate crime wave linked to A66 crash turning roads into ‘Wild West’ – as gangs exploit gaping £40 loophole

MOST drivers wouldn’t spare a second thought for their car number plate. So it will surprise many to learn that illegal plates have been blamed for fuelling a “Wild West” of law-breaking on Britain’s roads – ranging from antisocial behaviour up to the highest levels of organised crime. The scene of the fatal crash on the A66 this weekend where two police officers lost their lives Credit: PA Hero cop Matthew Blades was killed in Saturday’s tragic collision Credit: Facebook Two types of banned plates – “ghost” and “cloned” – have enabled toll dodgers to thwart congestion charges and have even been linked to murder. Now, illegal plates are said to be involved in the horrific head-on crash deaths of two police officers in the early hours of Saturday morning. Police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct has confirmed cloned plates are believed to have been used on the Volkswagen Passat being driven by joyriders on the A66 in Middlesbrough. That car struck and killed “devoted father” PC Matthew Blades, 37, and “hero” PC Tom Clough, 38, who were travelling in the opposite direction. PC Tom Clough died on Saturday with his family describing him as a hero Credit: NCJMedia Kyron Lee who was murdered by a gang who used a cloned vehicle Credit: Candour TV The occupants of the Passat, Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Jacob Matusiak, 23, and Makai Saddington, 18, all also died. Cloned plates are fakes that use the real reg numbers of other cars owned by unwitting drivers. Meanwhile, illegal ghost plates are manipulated or specially coated with reflected sprays, films, modified fonts or non-standard spacing. They are difficult to detect as they often go unnoticed to the untrained eye and are not picked up by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. These cameras, which automatically read vehicle registration marks, help police track stolen or uninsured vehicles and monitor criminal activity. The horrific A66 smash is not the only recent tragedy involving cloned or ghost plates. Kyron Lee, 21, was hacked to death by the Chalvey Boyz machete gang in his hometown of Slough, Berks, in October 2022. He had been knocked off his bike by the attackers in a stolen car with cloned plates. That slowed down Thames Valley Police in its investigation – although they eventually managed to trace his killers. According to the DVLA, there were 11,394 reports of cloned plates between January and December 2025, and a bill is currently going through Parliament to crack down on illegal plates. Makai Saddington died along with four others in the car on Saturday Credit: Facebook/Makai Saddington Jacob Matusiak, 23, was one of the passengers in the car involved in Saturday’s tragic collision Credit: Facebook/Jakub Hewitt Estimates from 2023 reveal that in London alone there was a 64 per cent increase in fines being cancelled after many had been sent to innocent car owners whose plates had been cloned. And it emerged last year that official suppliers of vehicle number plates in the UK are willing to sell illegal cloned versions. More than 130 of these suppliers could be willing to provide the banned plates, it has been claimed. And anyone can become a DVLA-registered number plate scheme (RNPS) member for as little as a £40 payment – leaving the system wide open to abuse, critics say. The Vehicle Identification Group, a group of academics advising the government on the issue, said in a letter last year: “There is no vetting, no trading history requirement and no monitoring of members’ practices. “We found 10 who were prepared to make cloned plates mapped around West Bromwich alone. “To date we have identified over 135 DVLA registered RNPS members nationally who were prepared to make cloned plates and there will undoubtedly be more.” Close friends Theo Rae, left, and Cole Worthy both died in the crash on Saturday night Credit: Facebook/Theo Rae MIchael Cahill was also killed in Saturday’s crash Credit: UGC/FACEBOOK/UNPIXS One West Midlands crook was found to have allegedly supplied more than 7,000 illegal number plates to the criminal underworld. The group, based at Cranfield University in Beds, added in the letter: “The UK’s ANPR system quietly enables mission critical activities across government departments, from the safe transport of nuclear materials to the enforcement of customs tariffs and vehicle excise duty; tackling fraudulent benefit claims and rogue traders; from ensuring roadworthiness, driver safety and standards in food delivery, schools and wider passenger and goods transport management to the support of health emergencies and pandemics, major incidents, civil contingencies, criminal intelligence and national security. “It is no exaggeration to say that ANPR has become part of the country’s critical national infrastructure – and that system is entirely dependent on vehicle registration plates. “While members of our group have publicly highlighted the absurdity of relying on a piece of plastic displayed on the exterior of a vehicle in an AI-ambitious digital economy, nevertheless, number plates are all we currently have, so we should take much more care with them.” An example of a traffic enforcement camera attempting to read a ghost number plate which can evade detection Credit: Alamy Ghost licence plates can be almost impossible to fully read – as this example shows Credit: Alamy It went on to say that the response of the bodies responsible for number plate recognition was “lamentable”. Labour MP Sarah Coombes, who represents West Bromwich in the West Midlands, took the fight to Parliament to get the punishment for having an illegal plate increased from a £100 fine to a £1,000 fine and six penalty points. Last year she said: “Everything from low-level antisocial behaviour to organised crime is being fuelled by these number plates; using a ghost plate is not the victimless crime it’s made out to be.” Meanwhile, Surrey Heath Liberal Democrat MP Dr Al Pinkerton, who is pushing for a Parliamentary bill related to illegal number plate cloning, asked in March this year then-Secretary of State for Transport Lilian Greenwood how she planned to address illegal plates links to organised crime. Ms Greenwood said: “The Department and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) are considering options to ensure a more robust and auditable Register of Number Plate Supplier (RNPS) process, which would enable more stringent checks on suppliers. “This includes consideration of the relevant legislation, fees, structure, resources and funding to help ensure sufficient auditing capability. “The DVLA is also working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime. “This includes options for making number plates more secure. “The Department and the DVLA acknowledge the impact illegal number plates have on law enforcement and the effectiveness of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems. “The Home Office is responsible for the national ANPR service and issues guidance on its use as part of the national ANPR standards for policing and law enforcement. “Therefore, the Department for Transport has not made an assessment of the impacts on ANPR operations.” At the time of going to press, Ms Coombes had not responded to The Sun’s request for a comment. But she previously said: “It’s clear to MPs of all parties that the DVLA is presiding over a failing system that has enabled widespread criminality and led to the absurd situation that we have thousands of number plate suppliers operating out of garages, backrooms and sheds. “Cloned and ghost number plates are being used in everything from racing to drug-dealing to murder. The DVLA must take control of this number plate wild west. We as MPs cannot stand by and watch as the situation gets worse, putting ordinary drivers and members of the public in danger.” A Department for Transport spokeswoman told The Sun: “Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragic incident, especially the friends and family of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough. This is a live investigation and it’s important not to speculate on the circumstances. More generally, our Road Safety Strategy – the first in more than a decade – is taking direct action to crack down on illegal plates that help criminals evade detection.” Cleveland Police have also been contacted for a comment.