Drivers using 'ghost plates' to dodge speed cameras and bus lane fines

Motorists are outsmarting with crafty 'ghost plates' that render their vehicles undetectable to the law, according to council chiefs. These illegal plates, which bounce back camera flashes, thwart detection by speed and and are also known as 3D or 4D plates.

Authorities are now stepping up their game to close this loophole. Two years ago the people in charge of the UK's Automatic Number Plate Recognition system revealed that a surprising number of drivers – about one in 15 – can trick the system quite easily. Upon leaving his position, Professor Fraser Sampson wrote a letter to Transport Secretary lamenting the lack of action against these simple yet cunning tactics.

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To tackle the problem, councils have been armed with new cameras capable of spotting these elusive number plates. In , local wardens were kitted out with this advanced tech as part of a stringent enforcement drive last year.

Offenders caught in the act can anticipate a £100 fine for such violations. In his letter to Mark Harper, Prof Sampson detailed how individuals were sidestepping fines by cloning number plates, using reflective tape, and buying 'stealth plates', thereby dodging penalties for speeding or entering low-emission zones.

He stressed that number plate readings are only 97% accurate, leading to a staggering 2.4 million incorrect readings every day, which in turn results in innocent drivers receiving wrongful fines.

He noted that approximately 15,400 traffic lanes monitored by cameras submit between 75 and 80 million reads daily, with some days exceeding 80 million.

Prof Sampson also mentioned the possibility of reaching 100 million reads per day by the end of 2024, reports . Despite the ANPR system's technological advancements, Prof Sampson highlighted its vulnerability, saying: "For all its technological advancement and operational indispensability, the ANPR system still relies ultimately on a piece of plastic affixed to either end of a vehicle.

"Served by a wholly unregulated market, what my predecessor termed the humble number plate represents a single and readily assailable point of failure with the ANPR network being easily defeated by the manufacture and sale of stealth plates, cloned registration marks and other rudimentary obscurant tactics."

He elaborated on the ease with which the system can be compromised: "The result is that the ability to frustrate the ANPR system remains staggeringly simple at a time when proper reliance on it for key public services such as policing, law enforcement and traffic management is increasing daily.

Emission zones and other strategic traffic enforcement schemes put motorists in situations where they have to make significant financial choices and it is at least arguable that the incentives for some to 'game' the ANPR systems have never been greater."

Additionally, Prof Sampson pointed out simple methods of evasion: "Merely by applying reflective tape to distort part of a registration plate or purchasing stealth plates from online vendors, motorists can confuse and confound current number plate recognition and both of these are easily obtainable.

One recent estimate suggested that one in fifteen drivers may already be using anti-ANPR technology; it is reasonable to expect this conduct to increase as the reliance on ANPR for new traffic management schemes continues."