Banned car number plates: the blacklisted 73-reg combinations revealed

A new list of banned UK number plates has been revealed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), adding to the extensive and ever-growing archive of inappropriate or explicit combinations that won’t be seen on the road.

Things appear to have moved on a little since the springtime when references to Covid and the war in Ukraine featured heavily in the list of banned ‘23’ number plates. A freedom of information enquiry revealed that the full list of ‘73’ plates to be deemed unfit for public consumption when the new reg is released in September includes controversial combinations such as BO73 LOX, HA73 GAY, LE73 ZZA, SH73 TER and WH73 PWR.

At every plate change, the DVLA issues more than one million possible number combinations, so once again the list of banned number plate combinations appears surprisingly long. With the AN73 prefix potentially being read as ‘ANTI’ or ‘ANY’ that’s been disallowed when followed by a wide variety of three-letter combinations. The same goes for EA73 with its ‘EATS’ connotations and HA73 as a shorthand for ‘HATES’.

While some of the number combinations require a little head scratching to comprehend the potential for offence, other plates the DVLA has taken off the list need little explanation – some potential shockers that jump out include AS73 HOL, BU73 SHT, and EA7S DCK.

The topic of banned number plate combinations may seem light-hearted, but it’s something the DVLA has to take seriously, holding meetings before each new plate format is released – which happens twice a year – to ensure no inappropriate combinations end up on the road.

The criteria for plates to be banned is if they “may cause offence, embarrassment or are in poor taste”. The DVLA points out that it’s only a small minority of combinations that end up on the suppressed list, with the vast majority of registrations being publicly available.

John Kirkbright, of private plate specialist Platehunter, said:  “With so many plates being released at once, it is no surprise that some of them are not fit for the road.

“However, some of them are borderline but I understand why the DVLA chose to be extra cautious. They are simply trying to protect what is a very significant source of revenue.”

You can find a full list of banned 73-plate combinations below, so we’ll leave it to you to choose any individual favourites. 

Please note that some of these are more explicit than those we’ve picked out and may cause offence or distress.

Full list of banned 73-reg plates

More on car number plates…