Saturday 1st September 2001
The car number plate system in the UK was completely revised. Each registration index consisted of seven characters with a defined format (eg FL51 XSD). From left to right, the characters consist of a two-letter area code and a two-digit age identifier, which changes twice a year. In the first half of the year the last two digits of the year are used and in the second half of the year a ‘5’ takes the place of the first of the two digits. The remaining characters comprise three random letters.