VAN fleets are being warned to guard against a new crime – identity theft. The number of vehicle registration plates being stolen across the UK is rapidly rising.

The plates are then being used to commit a host of motoring offences and other crimes. Now a new numberplate to combat the thefts has been launched.

The new plates are theft-resistant and have been developed so they cannot be removed from any vehicle within three minutes. Even if the thief is successful in removing them, the plate is designed to shatter into at least four pieces so it cannot be re-used on another vehicle.

Using patented cutting edge technology, the theft resistant plate has been developed over the past two years by Hills Numberplates, the UK’s largest manufacturer of numberplates.