Jokesters beware, as the DVLA has just released its annual list of banned number plates - and it includes all the rude words you could ever think of.
It's quite a humours thought to think that somewhere in DVLA HQ, there's a bunch of people preempting all the crude and creative ways motorists could use their number-plates to cause shock or offence.
But this is a very real thing as the agency has just released the full list of prohibited plates for 2025 - with MailOnline stating that the criteria for an offensive plate includes anything which 'may cause offence, embarrassment or are in poor taste'.
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And I'm sure you can already guess some of the creative spellings on the list.
To the surprise of nobody, the list includes all the creative ways you could spell rude or crass words to refer to genitalia or more general curse words.
It's believed around 210 combinations have been forbidden, so don't expect to see any of the following when you're driving around on UK roads.
'AA25 HOL', 'BA25 TAD', 'BO25 LOX' and FA25 NNY' feature on the list alongside the likes of '**25LUT' and '**25HAG' (which I'm sure you can use your imagination to work out what the missing letters are).
Moving away from anything sex-related, the DVLA also has a ban on combinations which could appear threatening, which means no plates with 'TE25 ROR’, 'GB25 WAR' or 'GB25 KLL' will be allowed.
Combinations which included '25 RUS' or '25 UKR' are also prohibited due to potential connotations to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
Other barred combinations include:
- EU25 WAR
- PE25 RVT
- PE25 ADO
- OR25 ASM
- US25 WAR
- VA25 GNA
- WA25 TED
- LE25 ZBO
- MU25 DER
So you can see the DVLA is really trying to cover all bases.
Feeling risky and thinking about getting a private number plate which loosely spells out something rude? Well, that might not be the best idea either, as a non road legal plate could see you slapped with a fine of up to £1,000 and potentially even points on your licence or MOT failure.
Which isn't really worth getting a few laughs from mates, as tempting as it might be.
"It’s always entertaining to see some of the plates deemed inappropriate by the DVLA, but there are also those that remind us why this is a necessary process," Mark Trimbee, CEO of the private number plate company Regtransfers, explained to The Express.
"Personalised number plates are an excellent form of self-expression, but they shouldn’t be used to display genuinely harmful messages or views."
Brenna Cooper