Police cash in on £250,000 car plate AB1

A POLICE chief has sparked a row by putting one of Britain’s most valuable car number plates up for auction.

West Mercia Police hopes to raise up to £250,00 by auctioning the registration number AB 1.

Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion will put the money towards front line policing and it could pay for 12 new constables for a year.

But more than 700 people including retired officers have signed a petition urging the force to keep the plate, which was first issued in 1908 and used on the official cars of the Worcestershire Chief Constable.

Mr Campion said the prospect of a public servant using the private number plate, which has been unused for six years, ‘belongs in a time gone by’.

Former officers have urged a rethink. Retired Worcester policeman Paul Yarrington said: ‘It’s like selling the crown jewels – it’s a bit of police history.

‘I was disgusted when I saw it for sale. I feel the force is alienating itself against the public.’