Cloned plates: the camera showed a different vehicle (2026)

Case 2250504481 / 2025-11-18 / Adjudicator Henry Michael Greenslade

ROTHERHITHE TUNNEL APPROACH / BRUNEL ROAD

“find that it was not her vehicle shown to be in contravention at this time.”

Henry Michael Greenslade

The camera record showed a vehicle bearing the appellant's registration at the Rotherhithe Tunnel entrance. TfL said it had passed the sign prohibiting goods vehicles above two tonnes maximum gross weight. The appellant accepted that the registration belonged to her, but disputed that the vehicle in the images was hers.

Her case was that the registration had been cloned. She identified material differences between the pictured vehicle and her own, said her vehicle was at home, and supplied supporting evidence together with a police crime reference. Henry Michael Greenslade considered the evidence and accepted her account on balance.

The appeal was allowed following an adjudicated finding about vehicle identity. It was not a finding that the weight restriction or signs were invalid, and TfL had not simply left the appeal uncontested. The case illustrates why matching a registration number and identifying the actual vehicle are different evidential questions.

Source and case reference

Use case reference 2250504481 in the London Tribunals register to find the official decision. This commentary distinguishes the adjudicator's finding from a possible argument in a different case; previous tribunal decisions do not bind another adjudicator.