Number Plates in Bishop Auckland

Bishop Auckland sits about 12 miles south-west of Durham, and the A688 links the two, which makes the trip to our workshop at Dragonville Industrial Park a single road. Plates are made while you wait, no appointment, 9:00am to 4:30pm, Monday to Saturday.

Save the journey time, order first

Ordering online and picking collection means the plates can be made and fitted within the hour of the order, during opening hours, with fitting Monday to Friday, so the trip along the A688 is one trip rather than two. Posting documents for delivery works, but takes a few days.

What to bring

A document proving your name and address, and a document proving you are entitled to the registration. Driving licence plus V5C logbook is the usual pair, though we accept a good deal more than that. The proof of address needs to be in your name; the entitlement document does not, which is how plates get bought as presents.

Documents are recorded and handed straight back, and a pair of plates takes roughly ten minutes after that.

Fitting

£9.99 per plate, £19.98 for a pair, Monday to Friday, while you wait and without booking. Sticky pads are the recommendation, with screws, plate holders and velcro as alternatives. We will fit road legal plates you bought elsewhere; we will not fit illegal ones.

Letter styles

All made to the British Standard, BS AU 145e, and none of them show plates or tinted plates:

Legal flags go on any style: the Union Flag, St George's Cross, the Saltire, the Welsh Dragon and the Green Flash EV identifier. In shapes we keep standard, shortened, hex, square 4x4, oversize, trailer, motorbike and Japanese import plates, and the 4D laser cut range is the one worth seeing before ordering.

Private registrations

As well as making plates we sell registrations: over 74 million DVLA registrations to search, plus 60,000+ pre-owned registrations, across dateless, prefix, suffix and current style. Dateless registrations are the ones that hide a vehicle's age, which is usually why people ask about them.

What makes it legal

Our name, postcode and BS AU number go on every plate because the law says they must, and the characters are Charles Wright on a reflective BS AU 145e plate. Show plates and tinted plates are not something we produce.

The DVLA part

The registration is assigned by the DVLA rather than by us. You need the V5C and either the V750 Certificate of Entitlement or the V778 Retention Document, the vehicle taxed and MOT'd, and the online service runs 7am to 7pm daily. The Done-For-You Paperwork Service does the paperwork for you from a photograph of the V5C.

Buying a plate as a present

A registration can be bought and held until it is assigned, so it does not have to go onto a car straight away. The gift guide explains how that works.

What it costs

A printed pair starts at £29.99, raised styles cost more, and fitting is £9.99 a plate. Registrations are a separate purchase from £250, the £80 DVLA fee included, rising with how sought after the combination is.

Bishop Auckland number plate FAQs

Which road do I want? The A688 towards Durham, then Dragonville Industrial Park, where parking is free.

Do I have to book? No. Walk in between 9:00am and 4:30pm, Monday to Saturday.

How long does a pair take? Around ten minutes once we have seen your documents.

Can you fit them for me? Yes, Monday to Friday, £9.99 per plate.

Is there parking? Yes, free, right outside the unit.

Can I buy the registration and the plates together? Yes, both in the same visit.

Areas we cover

Bishop Auckland is one of eight towns with its own page. The rest:

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Finding us from Bishop Auckland

Unit 1, Dragonville Industrial Park, Dragon Lane, Durham, DH1 2XJ, along the A688 from Bishop Auckland, with free parking outside the unit.

Opening hours are 9:00am to 4:30pm, Monday to Saturday, and fitting is Monday to Friday.