New AI cameras detect over 1,000 'ghost plates' a day on motorways as seizure and points plan is imminent

From the Newshound archive · first published 28 September 2026 · last updated 29 September 2026.

New AI cameras on trial along motorways in south-east England are flagging more than 1,000 'ghost plates' daily at a single location close to the Dartford Crossing, with detections near the M25 approaching almost 2,000 a day. The Department for Transport is pushing ahead with plans to grant police on-the-spot powers to seize vehicles fitted with such plates and issue up to six penalty points — a threshold that would automatically disqualify newly qualified drivers. The alterations, undetectable to the naked eye yet designed to blind ANPR cameras, can be bought online for £30 or less.

Up to one in 15 vehicles on British roads may already be fitted with plates that ANPR cameras are unable to read.

A London enforcement operation found that 40 per cent of taxis and private hire vehicles checked had illegal plate alterations intended to evade camera detection.

Sharon Gannon's son Jason Wallis died in a 2023 Buckinghamshire crash involving hidden registration plates — his brother-in-law was later jailed.