Quote Originally Posted by xsnaggle View Post
No you got it right.
here is the full list of identifiers.

From it you can see that a police officer sitting on a road from Merseyside to North Wales, in possession of this info can be selective in which vehicles he checks. Obviously car get moved around and sold on but it isn't a bad starting point, and the newer a car is the more likely it is to be accurate.


Letter Postal area DVLA memory tag identifier
A Anglia Peterborough Norwich Ipswich AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AJ AK AL AM AN AO AP AR AS AT AU AV AW AX
AY
B Birmingham Birmingham BA – BY
C Cymru Cardiff Swansea Bangor CA CB CC CD CE CF CG CH CJ CK CL CM CN CO CP CR CS CT CU CV CW CX CY
D Deeside Shrewsbury Chester Shrewsbury DA DB DC DD DE DF DG DH DJ DK DL DM DN DO DP DR DS DT DU DV
DW DX DY
E Essex Chelmsford EA – EY
Forest & Fens Nottingham Lincoln FA FB FC FD FE FF FG FH FJ FK FL FM FN FP FR FS FT FV FW FX FY
G Garden of England Maidstone Brighton GA GB GC GD GE GF GG GH GJ GK GL GM GN GO GP GR GS GT GU GV GW GX GY
H Hampshire & Dorset Bournemouth Portsmouth HA HB HC HD HE HF HG HH HJ HK HL HM HN HO HP HR HS HT HU HV HW HX
(HW will be used exclusively for Isle of Wight residents)
K Borehamwood Northampton KA KB KC KD KE KF KG KH KJ KK KL KM KN KO KP KR KS KT KU KV KW KX KY
L London Wimbledon Borehamwood Sidcup LA LB LC LD LE LF LG LH LJ LK LL LM LN LO LP LR LS LT LU LV LW LX LY M Manchester/Merseyside Manchester MA – MY (MN + MAN Reserved for the Isle of Man)
N North Newcastle
Stockton NA NB NC ND NE NG NH NJ NK NL NM NN NO NP NR NS NT NU NV NW NX NY
O Oxford OA – OY
P Preston Preston
Carlisle PA PB PC PD PE PF PG PH PJ PK PL PM PN PO PP PR PS PT PU PV PW PX PY
R Reading Reading.
Theale RA – RY
S Scotland Glasgow Edinburgh Dundee Aberdeen Inverness SA SB SC SD SE SF SG SH SJ SK SL SM SN SO SP SR SS
ST SU SV SW SX SY
V Severn Valley Worcester VA – VY
W West of England Exeter Truro Bristol WA WB WC WD WE WF WG WH WJ WK WL WM WN WO WP WR WS WT WU WV WW
WX WY
Y Yorkshire Leeds Sheffield Beverley YA YB YC YD YE YF YG YH YJ YK YL YM YN YO YP YR YS YT YU YV YW YX YY
We will not use I, Q or Z in local memory tags identifiers

The Cities named are the local DVLA offices and which plates they issue.

hope this helps
Only passed a few years ago and I've never taken any notice of car regs previously, had to Google it a minute ago was hoping it was a new thing.. C for cymru S for Scotland L for London etc "September 2001" read the article. So much for new to lessen the embarrassment