Lord Mayor's car number plate could fetch £500k

Leeds City Council has owned the "U1" car number plate for 120 years

A number plate belonging to the official car of a city's Lord Mayor could go up for sale for more than £500,000, a council has said.

Leeds City Council said it was considering selling the plate after owning it for about 120 years to raise money for the local authority.

A sale of the civic plate, which bears the number "U1", could contribute towards the council's money-saving efforts as it faces a projected deficit of £106m for the next financial year.

A spokesperson for the authority said the decision to sell council assets was not taken lightly, but the monetary pressures it faced were "acute".

The U1 plate is said to be the first ever bought in Leeds after the Motor Car Act was passed in 1903.

Rowland Winn, a founding member of the Automobile Association, gave it as a gift to Arthur Currer Briggs, when Briggs was elected Lord Mayor the same year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The plate, pictured on a car belonging to a previous Lord Mayor, was a gift from the Automobile Association

Debra Coupar, the council's executive member for resources, said: "The financial pressures we are facing are simply so acute, we are being forced to look at all manner of options which we have never explored before."

Industry experts had been consulted on a valuation of the plate, Ms Coupar said.

She added: "In the current circumstances, that is an opportunity we must take.

"Our priority has to be to do whatever we can to balance our budget, meet the needs of residents and not risk being driven to the point of financial distress."

Council documents showed the sale would be classed as a "key decision", with a potential financial impact of more than £500,000.

If the decision to sell the plate was approved, the council would appoint a private dealer to act on its behalf.

It was estimated a sale would then take about three months to complete, according to council documents.

Once completed, the plate would then be replaced on the Lord Mayor's civic vehicle by another plate bearing the number L6EDS, which was also owned by the council.

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