DVLA number plate censors have issued a list of plates which will be banned next March for spelling out offensive words such as SH14 TTY and BU14 SHT.

Staff have worked out which new combinations, using the most recent 63 plates as well as the forthcoming 14 plates, should be banned on the grounds of good taste.

Censors already decided that certain letter combinations should be kept off the road – with many plates starting with PR, SH and SL having to be scratched.

This includes such variations such as PR14 CCK, SH14 TTY, SP14 STK, SL14 AGS and SK14 NKY.

A fear over glorifying terrorism has seen any number plate ending with J14 HAD also being vetoed.

The 14-plate, which is due to start appearing on new cars in March next year, is a boon for personalised number plate fans as it can be made to appear to read as a I or an A. It is also responsible for plates such as TR14 DDS, AL14 LAH, CR14 PLE and BU14 SHT.

The 63-plates, which went live in September, also saw the experts at the DVLA busy banning the ruder combinations, where the numbers can be made to look like a G or a B.

This included variations of number plates such as BU63 GER, FA63 HAG, FA63 GTT, HU63 NOB and NO63 END.

Also vetoed were OR63 ASM, OR63 YYY and a host of combinations that start VA63. SO63 OMY was also outlawed as was PU63 RTY and LU63 FER.

The experts even have to consider common text language abbreviations now – hence OM63 WTF being removed from bumpers.

A special group of people called the DVLA's Propriety Group sit down for meetings every year to discuss which plates should not be allowed.

A DVLA Spokesperson said: "The vast majority of registration numbers are made available but we have a responsibility to ensure that the combinations used do not cause offence.

"We try to identify combinations that may cause offence and having considered the appropriateness of these registration numbers we have withdrawn them as they could cause offence or embarrassment on the grounds of political or racial sensitivities or are in poor taste."

Source: Daily Telegraph