Experts are calling for urgent action to be taken to tackle the rise in the use of number plates which do not appear on police and speed cameras.
Online retailers are openly selling vehicle registration plates with special reflective coatings that prevent police cameras from reading them, allowing drivers to evade detection across the road network.
These so-called "ghost plates" use technology that blocks infrared cameras from capturing registration numbers.
Retailers are also selling retractable plate holders that can hide number plates beneath vehicle bumpers, the Times reported.
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Experts have called for a nationwide crackdown on number plates which avoid ANPR cameras
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Product demonstrations and customer reviews specifically mention avoiding cameras that enforce Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) charges, Gatwick airport drop-off fees, and automatic car park systems.
The plates are being marketed to motorists frustrated with surveillance, though authorities warn they're increasingly being used to conceal criminal activity.
West Bromwich MP Sarah Coombes is leading a campaign to increase penalties for using these plates from £100 to £1,000, alongside a six-point licence penalty.
She said: "It's clear that people with ghost plates are using them to cover up wider criminal activity. There's truly no legitimate reason to have one, and the penalties need to increase to reflect that."
Sarah Coombes, Labour MP for West Bromwich, has called for harsher penalties for drivers with ghost number plates
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A police operation in London revealed the scale of the problem, discovering that 40 per cent of taxi and private hire vehicles had coatings on their registration plates that made them unreadable to Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras.
One company reportedly tells customers on its website: "Sure, there'll be a few dodgy types out there who have bought [one]. But are you?
"Or are you just sick to death of being watched everywhere you go? Being chased, paying through the nose for living a normal life? No, I doubt very much that you're a criminal".
Another retailer is owned by a YouTuber who demonstrates the products and said the retractable plates were designed for people wanting to hide their plates at shows or on private land.
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The owner added: "They're not designed for illegal use, and our website clearly states they are for off-road use only."
Michael Flanagan, chairman of the British Number Plate Manufacturers Association, warned that the industry has become infiltrated by "unscrupulous below-the-radar suppliers using non-compliant, untraceable materials".
He said: "They rarely ask for the documentation that the DVLA require. This is a criminal offence and enables serious criminals and terrorists to move around the roads undetected."
The DVLA responded that it works with police and Trading Standards to tackle non-compliant suppliers of ghost plates.
What a 'ghost' number plate looks like to an ANPR camera WOLVERHAMPTON COUNCILA spokesperson added: "A legitimate supplier will always ask to see ID and entitlement documents before selling a number plate."
Sarah Coombes has introduced the issue under a Ten Minute Rule Bill, and called for more to be done to protect road users from people driving dangerously.
She stated that more than 1,000 people are killed or seriously injured on roads across the West Midlands every year.
Coombes, who has been an MP since July 2024, claimed that the ghost plates can be purchased for as little as £30, adding that they are "widely known" on social media.
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