LAW-ABIDING motorists could be mistaken for criminals by police using the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems, the AA Motoring Trust has warned.

Number plates obscured by dirt or with incorrect letter and number spacing, that cannot be read by the ANPR camera, may be flagged up as suspect registrations and police sent in pursuit, said the trust.

Plates that have been stolen or cloned by criminals and used to evade prosecution for speeding, illegal parking, insurance and other offences may also land the registered car owners in trouble.

The trust said that with increasing use of ANPR, both motorists and enforcement agencies needed to understand the implications of this new crime-busting technology and tighten up their respective practices.

For their part, drivers needed to appreciate that the need to keep their number plates street legal had never been so great, and that failure to do so was more likely to bring prosecution.

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