The UK's most expensive car number plates

The world of private car registration plates is a confusing place, with a collection of digits on a reflective plastic strip commanding huge interest and, often, eye-watering prices. While some might not see the appeal, personalised number plates can have great significance to many UK motorists who see them as an essential fashion accessory for their car.
The UK's love affair with personalised registration plates has seen prices of particularly interesting or cherished plates soar in recent times. The DVLA estimates that over £2 billion in tax revenue has been raised at its various plate auctions in the UK in the last 25 years.
They point out that it only takes one or two people to take interest in a specific UK licence plate for bids to explode, with determined enthusiasts letting their hearts rule their heads in the auction room. Many speculators and dealers even make a living from trading valuable number plates as our guide to making money from buying and selling personalised plates shows.
Plates aren't always profitable though. Recently, the much-lauded plate '250 C' came up for auction and was expected to sell for over £500,000, yet the bids only went up to £21,500 on the day of the auction.
The number plate's estimated value was based on its apparent reference to Ferrari's classic 250 GT California, an example of which was bought by DJ Chris Evans for over £5 million. It was thought that a wealthy Ferrari 250 owner would snap-up the registration but the predicted bidding war did not emerge.
Sometimes UK number plate prices really do go through the roof. But here are the 10 UK licence plates that have hit the highest prices...

1 0: £170,000

Just two binary digits, this minimalist plate was purchased in Northamptonshire in 2009.