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London number plates

L is London, split three ways between Wimbledon, Stanmore and Sidcup as you move across the capital. It's one of the most common codes on British roads, though plenty of L-plated cars have long since left the M25.

LA19 XYZ Every current London plate starts with L

London area codes and their offices

The first letter (L) fixes the region; the second letter points to the DVLA office that first issued the mark.

Area codes	Local office	Example plate
LA–LJ (9 codes)	Wimbledon	LA21 ABC
LK–LT (9 codes)	Stanmore	LK21 ABC
LU–LY (5 codes)	Sidcup	LU21 ABC

All London codes: LA, LB, LC, LD, LE, LF, LG, LH, LJ, LK, LL, LM, LN, LO, LP, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, LW, LX, LY.

Decode any plate for free

Enter a registration to confirm its region and office, its format and roughly when it dates from. No account, no charge.

What a L plate does (and doesn't) tell you

The two opening letters of a current plate are a snapshot of one moment: the day the registration was first issued. A L code means that moment happened in the London region, at Wimbledon, Stanmore and Sidcup. It's a genuine piece of the car's story, and a nice bit of trivia, but it's the beginning of the story, not the whole of it.

What it can't tell you is where the car is today. A registration can be sold, transferred onto a different vehicle, or simply follow a car that's been moved the length of the country. So a London plate on a car for sale nowhere near Wimbledon isn't a red flag; it's ordinary. If you want to know where a car has actually been and how it's been treated, the record that matters is its MOT test history and the mileage trail inside it.

The numbers in the middle of the plate are worth a glance too. They date the reg to a six-month window, so they should line up roughly with the year in any advert. Our guide to UK number plate formats breaks down every scheme, and you can decode a specific plate in seconds. When you're ready to look past the plate at the car itself, the full £5.00 report pulls the actual vehicle record: MOT history, mileage, tax and spec, with a photo.

London plates: common questions

What does a L number plate mean?

A registration beginning with L was first issued in the London DVLA region. The exact second letter narrows it to the local office (Wimbledon, Stanmore and Sidcup) that handed the mark out when the car was first registered.

Does a London plate mean the car is from there now?

No. The area code only records where the registration was first issued. Plates get transferred and cars get driven and sold across the country, so a London tag on a car parked hundreds of miles away is completely normal.

Which offices issued London plates?

The London region was served by 3 local offices: Wimbledon, Stanmore and Sidcup. Each was allocated its own block of two-letter codes.

London number plates

London area codes and their offices

Decode any plate for free

What a L plate does (and doesn't) tell you

London plates: common questions

Other number plate regions

Manchester and Merseyside

North

Oxford

Preston

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