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MPs are to be lobbied in Westminster to back a long-running West Midlands campaign to crackdown on 'ghost plates'. West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster said he and West Bromwich MP Sarah Coombes believe Parliament 'needs to act' to stamp out the use of illegal number plates. They will be heading down to Parliament on December 2 to talk to MPs about the campaign and call for tougher measures to be put in place. READ MORE: Major £70 million project at Birmingham railway depot to improve services completed In September, Mr Foster and West Midlands Police's Road Policing Unit launched Operation Phantom, which used cutting-edge technology to expose thousands of illegal number plates operating across Birmingham . In just two weeks, 4,335 instances of these non-compliant plates were identified in a single location in Birmingham. Earlier this month the Parliamentary Vehicle Registration Plate Inquiry was set up to look into the issue. Mr Foster said: "I have welcomed the launch of a new Parliamentary Vehicle Registration Plate Inquiry, as a major development in my campaign to crack down on illegal 'ghost plates'. "The inquiry, led by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety, will examine the growing problem of untraceable number plates, which allow dangerous drivers and criminals to evade accountability, detection and enforcement on the UK's roads. "This inquiry is about exposing offenders, bringing them to justice and keeping people safe on our roads. "It is vital that we now build on this progress and deliver the changes needed to tighten up the law and keep the people and communities of our region safe and secure. "A recent West Midlands Police operation led to thousands of so-called ghost plate detections. "I have been campaigning for national action on this issue for some time and I am pleased to see that our work here in the West Midlands is now gathering significant momentum. "That is why on the 2 December, I am taking my campaign to Westminster, to join local MP, Sarah Coombes, to brief Members of Parliament, in connection with this important issue. "We need stricter regulation, we need to ban 3D and 4D plates and we need tougher sanctions for people flouting the law. We need Parliament to act."
