Number plate area codes
The first two letters of a current UK number plate are the memory tag. The first letter shows the region where the car was first registered and the second shows the local DVLA office area within it, so a plate starting LA was first registered in London, in the Wimbledon office area. Enter a plate to see where it comes from.
Every area code by region
| Letter | Region | Office areas |
|---|---|---|
| A | Anglia | Peterborough, Norwich, Ipswich |
| B | Birmingham | Birmingham |
| C | Cymru (Wales) | Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor |
| D | Deeside to Shrewsbury | Chester, Shrewsbury |
| E | Essex | Chelmsford |
| F | Forest and Fens | Nottingham, Lincoln |
| G | Garden of England | Maidstone, Brighton |
| H | Hampshire and Dorset | Bournemouth, Portsmouth |
| K | Borehamwood and Northampton | Borehamwood, Northampton |
| L | London | Wimbledon, Borehamwood, Sidcup |
| M | Manchester and Merseyside | Manchester |
| N | North | Newcastle, Stockton |
| O | Oxford | Oxford |
| P | Preston | Preston, Carlisle |
| R | Reading | Theale |
| S | Scotland | Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness |
| V | Severn Valley | Worcester |
| W | West of England | Exeter, Truro, Bristol |
| Y | Yorkshire | Leeds, Sheffield and Beverley |
Letters that are not used
The DVLA does not use I, Q or Z in memory tags. Q plates are issued to vehicles whose age or identity cannot be confirmed, and Z appears only among the three random letters at the end. A few tags are kept back for particular places: HW is used only for cars registered to Isle of Wight residents, and MN is reserved for the Isle of Man.
What the area code tells you about a car
The memory tag only shows where a car was first registered in Britain, not where it has been kept since, and a private plate can carry any tag. To see a particular car's MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.
Last updated 11 November 2026. Memory tags: DVLA leaflet INF104, Vehicle registration numbers and number plates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.