Leasing company reveals illegal car modification hotspots

Select Car Leasing, a Burton-based car leasing company, has released a report of illegal car modification hotspots.

The report has analysed 33 Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests, each from a different police force to see which area had the highest number of reports made by officers for illegal vehicle modifications.

The statistics cover a 12-month period spanning from August 2021 until August 2022.

Overall there were 10,498 illegal car modifications reported by forces across the UK, with the majority - 7,400 - of these being for illegal number plates.

The Avon and Somerset region, which covers areas such as Bath, Bristol and Taunton - recoded the most offences of over 2,100 non-lawful modifications.

Meanwhile, 2000 number plate offences were reported by police in the 12 month period.

The county of Essex had the second highest incidence of illegal modifications, with 726 offences reported by police, including 567 number plates reported missing entirely, and 104 tinted windows reported for being too dark.

From the areas analysed, the police region with the least amount of illegal car modification reports was Cleveland, which includes areas such as Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Redcar - with 24 reports. Out of them 22 number plates were reported missing and only one bulb tint and one too-loud exhaust were reported.

Derbyshire has the second least reports, with 36 in total, 34 of which were for tinted windows being too dark.

According to Select Car Leasing, updating a number plate is one of the easiest modifications to make. However, the rules are relatively strict with what is, and what isn 't, allowed.

Number plates must be clear and easy to read, following these rules:

• be made from a reflective material
• display black characters on a white background (front plate)
• display black characters on a yellow background (rear plate)
• not have a background pattern
• be marked to show who supplied the number plate
• be marked with a British Standard number - this is 'BS AU 145e ' for plates fitted after 1 September 2021
• The characters must not be removable or reflective. If your number plates were fitted after 1 September 2021, they must also be a single shade of black

For vehicles first used on 1 April 1985 or later, the front windscreen must let at least 75 per cent of light through and the front side windows must let at least 70 per cent of light through.

For vehicles first used before 1 April 1985, the front windscreen and front side windows must both let at least 70 per cent of light through.

It is also illegal to modify the exhaust system to make a vehicle noisier after it has been 'type approved '.

The police can also take action, including handing-out a £50 on-the-spot fine, if a vehicle 's silencer doesn 't work in the way it was designed or if driving in a way that creates too much noise. New cars produced since 2016 are legally not allowed to be louder than 72 decibels (dB)

Vehicles found driving on releasing high levels of emissions on public roads could result in a £1,000 fine.