Theft of number plates, Main Road, Drax

On 180126, it was reported to North Yorkshire Police that a crime had been committed in the Humberside area of Howden,  a vehicle using stolen plates had made off without payment from a fuel garage.

Enquiries found that the vehicle registration plates used in the crime had been stolen from a vehicle that had been parked on Main Road in Drax overnight from 17/01/26 to 18/01/26.

The suspect vehicle in the fuel theft was a black Peugeot estate but was displaying the stolen plates of the targeted vehicle, a white Corsa.

House to house enquiries and local CCTV enquiries around where the targeted vehicle had been parked on Main Road, Drax by Humberside officers has proved negative.

Please can we urge you to be vigilant with vehicle security.

Vehicle registration plate theft can be prevented by using security screws or locking frames, which deter opportunistic thieves by requiring special tools to remove them; please try to park in well-lit, secure areas and utilise garages where possible; consideration could be given to theft-resistant plates that break apart upon forced removal, making them useless for cloning.

Changing the identity of a vehicle, known as vehicle cloning, can be as simple as adding stolen number plates. When buying a vehicle, always check the DVLA V5 document and make sure the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the vehicle is the same as on the document. Please make sure you check more than one of the VINs as well as the engine numbers are on the vehicle.

Please report any suspicious activity to North Yorkshire Police on Tel 101.