It's quite common in the UK to have a personalised number plate on your car - no doubt this is prevalent in other countries too.

The lengths to which people go, to create meaningful plates amazes me. Most stay within the law; some, creatively use the fixing bolts for the plate to modify letters to create other letters (for example, 11 becomes H with a carefully placed black bolt head).

Although I have absolutely no interest in having a personalised plate myself, I can see the appeal in having something unique and, well, personal.

There are however, a certain class of people who possess more money that creativity, choosing to adorn their expensive cars with nothing more than a badge, saying what the car is. The main culprits are BMW M3, X3 and X5 owners, who have numbers like X5 ABC. Why do they do this? We all know it's an X5, it already says so on the back! Do they not realize that people are rolling their eyes and muttering something derogatory under their breath? Even worse are the ones who used to have the BMW X5 and now have an Audi Q7, sadly sporting the X5 ABC plate. I detest the phrase, but "Get a life" comes to mind.

(Please note: The number plate PR44 TTT, pronounced Prat! will be available in 2043, should anyone wish to reserve it).

(For those outside of the UK. Prat! is a mild form of that derogatory muttering). Apologies to my friends S and J Pratt :-)