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Automatic Number Plate Recognition

Asked by Mr Joshua ReynoldsLiberal DemocratDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 19 January 2026UIN 104599

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many instances of ANPR failure linked to tampered or unreadable number plates have been recorded by (a) police forces and (b) National Highways in the past three years.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood

The Government does not collect data on instances of ANPR failure recorded by police forces.

National Highways (NH) holds data from 27 July 2023 onwards with regard to the Dartford Crossing, since the introduction of the new Dart Charge service. As part of NH’s administration of the Dart Charge service ANPR monitors all vehicles which make the crossing on this route. A very small proportion of crossings cannot be charged due to a range of factors, including environmental conditions, dirt on number plates, or deliberate obscuring or tampering.

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