Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police have joined forces for a new operation which aims to tackle misrepresented number plates displayed on vehicles using the counties’ roads.

Operation Dragon, which is running throughout this month, will ses officers from automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) intercept teams and roads policing units clamping down on the use of misrepresented number plates – which are illegal.

Anyone caught displaying a number plate which does not meet the DVLA’s criteria will be pulled over by police and could face a fine of up to £1,000.

ANPR officers will be looking out for number plates that:

• display adjusted fixings or bolts which alter spaces or obscure characters to appear as something else.

• use any font that is not the standard DVLA approved ‘Charles Wright’ font.

• use offensive wording.

• are not easily readable or recognised by the naked eye.

Number plates should also be made from a reflective material. Front number plates must display black characters on a white background and rear number plate must display black characters on a yellow background.