Number Plate Area Codes: Where Is a UK Reg From?

What do the first two letters of a number plate mean?

On a plate issued in Great Britain since September 2001, the first two letters are the DVLA "memory tag": the area code. The first letter is the region (L for London, S for Scotland, Y for Yorkshire) and the second narrows it to the DVLA office that region's plates were issued under. The code shows where the car was first registered, not where it is kept now or where its keeper lives. The table below lists every code. For the car behind one plate, enter the registration in the search box above: the free check shows its make, model, colour, age, tax and MOT history from the DVLA and DVSA records.

Number plate area codes: the full list

The reg plate area codes as the DVLA lists them (leaflet INF104). I and Q are skipped as second letters, and Z is never used in an area code.

A few pairs inside those ranges are not issued: the DVLA's list leaves out FO, FU and NF, for example. There is no area for the first letters I, J, Q, T, U, X or Z in the list.

UK number plate format explained

The current format has three parts, shown here on the example plate YA26 KDF:

Older formats are still on the road, and each one puts the information somewhere else:

On prefix and suffix plates the area is in the last two of the three letters, under an older and much longer list of local codes than the one above.

Does the area code show where a car is from?

Only where it was first registered, and even that loosely. A new car takes the code of the region its supplying dealer registers through, so a car bought from a dealer in another county, an ex-lease or ex-hire car registered by a fleet operator, or a pre-registered car can carry a code from far away. The code never changes when the car is sold or its keeper moves. A private plate replaces it altogether.

That is why the area code is a curiosity, not a check. A London code on a car for sale in Glasgow tells you nothing about its condition; what matters is whether the plate matches the car. Enter the registration above and compare the make, model, colour, fuel and year on the DVLA record with the car in front of you.

How the format must be shown on the plate

The format is fixed by law, including how it is printed: black characters 79mm tall and 50mm wide in the one standard font, on white at the front and yellow at the rear, with a 33mm gap between the age identifier and the three random letters. Moving that gap, or using fixing bolts to change how a letter reads, can bring a fine of up to £1,000 and an MOT failure, and the DVLA can withdraw the registration. The sizes, the British Standard mark, flags and the green flash for zero-emission cars are set out in our guide to UK number plate rules: what makes a plate legal.

What the area code and plate cannot tell you

• Whether the plate belongs to the car. A cloned car wears the registration of a similar, legitimate car of the same make, model and colour. Check that the VIN on the car matches the V5C; the full report shows the VIN on record so you can compare it: see the VIN check.
• Whether the plate has changed. History recorded under an earlier plate stays with the car. The full report lists every plate the car has had: see the number plate change history check.
• Whether the car is stolen, written off or on finance. None of it shows on the plate or on the car. The stolen car check, the write-off check and the finance check are part of the full car history check.

The free car reg check covers the first step: it confirms the plate leads to a car of the right make, model, colour and age, with its tax status and MOT history.

Number plate area code FAQs

Source: DVLA leaflet INF104, Vehicle registration numbers and number plates (GOV.UK).