The private car licence plates that are too rude for the road

A LIST of private plates GU11 LTY of falling foul of road chiefs has been revealed.

DVLA bosses have laid bare a 46-page dossier of car plates it considers too rude for the road.

Banned combinations include BO03 ZER, PR15 SON and even WA15 TED.

The document also features endless columns of combinations too risqu or offensive to reproduce in a family newspaper.

A steering group meets twice a year to filter out any plates thought to be in bad taste.

Last night a spokesman for the Swansea-based driving agency said the guidelines are far from 5TU P1D, and are designed to preserve public decency.

“Registration numbers are withheld on the grounds of political, racial and religious sensitivities,” he explained.

He said they can also fall foul of censors simply because “they are regarded as being in poor taste”.

The banned list emerged after a Englishman with the surname Islam applied to get the number plate 15LAM.

However DVLA bosses told the man, who has asked to remain anonymous, the private number plate would be “inappropriate”.

But a number of religious exceptions have slipped through their filters, it has been claimed.

Earlier this month, the plate KR15HNA was sold for £233,000.

The plate M014MED (Mohammed) is expected to raise a six-figure sum and MR51 NGH (Mr Singh) has sold for £101,050.

Offensive plates hit the headlines back in 2006 when H8 GAY prompted a wave of protest.

The registration was withdrawn by the DVLA following complaints by an MP and others who said it could be seen as homophobic.

It was claimed that the plate was likely to be read as “hate gay”.

The DVLA initially refused to withdraw the registration, saying that there were no issues on the grounds of “political, racial or religious sensitivities”.

But after gay Labour MP Chris Bryant complained, the then Transport Secretary Alistair Darling ordered the DVLA to carry out a review.

The body subsequently withdrew the plate.

It emerged the controversial registration was bought as a joke by a gay couple, who displayed it on their blue Jaguar car.

One complainant who saw the plate said: “I was amazed.

“I just couldn’t believe it had been allowed and I assumed it was being driven by a right bigot.”

Speaking before the DVLA changed their minds Mr Bryant said: “If the DVLA sold H8 JEW, there would rightly be a public outcry.

“Clearly this goes beyond the realms of free speech and is a directly and deliberately offensive and abusive statement.”

In the last financial year the DVLA raised more than £105 million for the Treasury through the sale and auction of personalised registrations.