Driver urges motorists to have safe plating screws fitted

The one-way screws aren’t easily removed. They are covered with a security cap as an added deterrent.

A Rochdale woman is urging motorists to attend safe plating sessions across Greater Manchester.

The 31 year-old from Queensway made the appeal after number plates to her car were stolen.

It happened following the snowfall in January when her car was parked overnight on the roadside. She returned the following morning to find her registration plates were gone.

She said: “I wouldn’t ordinarily park there but because of the snow I couldn’t reach my driveway. When I saw that my plates were missing I immediately contacted police who told me to get paper plates until new ones were purchased.

“The whole incident was a real inconvenience. While the car was fitted with new plates at the garage I had to take the bus to work which made me late. I had meetings planned and these had to be cancelled.

“Now several months after the incident I still have to carry my documents with me everywhere I go despite reporting the plates as stolen. This is because my plates still alert any Automatic Number Plate Recognition check points. It makes me worry that someone could be out there committing crimes and I will have to prove that it isn’t me that has done it.”

She is now appealing for motorists to have the simple safety screws fitted to their cars.

“In hindsight if I would have had these screws fitted to my car on purchase as it would have prevented this type of crime from happening. I do think it’s something other motorists should have done as it protects you from being a victim.”

The one-way screws are available from your Neighbourhood Policing Teams and aren’t easily removed. They are then covered with a security cap as an added deterrent.

Between 2008 and 2009, 2828 number plates were stolen from vehicles across Greater Manchester. The theft of number plates helps criminals to clone other cars, and victims might not be aware of what’s happened until speeding and parking tickets start arriving in the post. Cloning is a term used to describe a vehicle that has been stolen and then had its identity changed by using false number plates.

Number plates are used to commit crimes, such as driving off from petrol stations without paying and other motoring offences. Victims can then have difficulty convincing authorities that it was not their car used to commit the offence.

Robert Barr, Crime Reduction Advisor for Greater Manchester Police, said: “Having these screws fitted is a simple measure that will reduce the risk of cars being targeted. Also, it’s cheap and easy to fit and will save people a lot of money and heartache in the long term. Your local police may even be running a scheme to assist with the cost of fitting these screws. Contact your local Neighbourhood Policing Team or crime reduction advisor for more information.”

Officers from the Rochdale North Neighbourhood Policing Team will be running a special safeplate clinic at Syke Community Base, at Fieldhouse Road, Rochdale from 10am to 2pm on Friday 18 June. They will be fitting one-way screws to drivers’ registration plates free of charge.