This is fine, apparently (Picture: Stian Alexander)

Would you drive a car with the number plate BJ69?

Some people are going around with that registration – and the DVLA says it has no plans to change it.

The matter came to a head after a customer came forward with their complaints about being offered a van with the licence plate.

They rejected it from van rental company Vanarama, saying it was ‘too rude’.


Chiefs at the firm have now contacted the DVLA to raise the issue that BJ – short for ‘Blow Job’ – and 69 – a sex position in which couples perform oral sex on each other – was a ‘bit much’ for some customers.



A spokesman for the DVLA told Metro.co.uk: ‘The vast majority of registration numbers are made available for general issue and for sale.

‘We consider the series in question to be suitable for release.’

It’s unusual given the number of licence plates which are banned by the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for being sexual, discriminatory, or threatening.

For 2019, some of the banned plates included BE19 END, BU19 GER, DO19 POO, and OR19 SMS.

How does vehicle licensing work? Each car in the UK is given a unique number plate written with two letters, two numbers and then another three letters. The first two letters indicate where a car was registered, so BJ indicates Birmingham. New license plates are released on September 1 and March 1 every year. In March, the numbers correspond to the number of the year – so this year, they were along the lines of XX19 XXX. In September, the numbers released add 50 to the original one – so this year, all new cars registered from September will have the number 69. Next year, cars will be given the numbers 20 or 70.

Here are some of this year’s that didn’t make the cut…

B19 NOB

P19 FKR

FA19 END

MU19 GER

GA19 NJA

P19 POL

FR19 BOY

B19 DCK

F19 GOT

Plates that end with SEX, BUM or ASS are automatically excluded.

Have you got an accidentally rude number plate? Send a photo to us at jen.mills@metro.co.uk with a description of how you got it.