J5 number plate and broken scooter sell for £350k

The law states a number plate for sale in Jersey has to be assigned to some sort of vehicle

A two-digit number plate mounted on a scooter which does not work has sold for £350,000.

The J5 plate and scooter were sold at auction by Simon Drieu & Co in Jersey earlier this week.

Mr Drieu said it was the second highest price ever achieved for a number plate in Jersey with the first being £380,000 for the J4 plate which was originally assigned to the Lieutenant Governor's vehicle in 2020.

In June the auctioneers sold J69 for £230,000, the third highest price achieved, he added.

Mr Drieu explained all Jersey registration marks belonged to the Inspector of Motor Traffic and when someone bought a number they were purchasing the "Mark Right", which is the right to assign the number to their vehicle.

He said the inspector had the ability to recall any number they may choose at any time.

The auction house assigns numbers to vehicles of insignificant value because of a law which states all registration marks must be assigned to a vehicle to be sold.

"Hence J5 was assigned to a non-running scooter of insignificant value," he added.