Number Plates News

Summer In The City

11 August 2010

During the height of the summer, most Londoners may wish to escape the city for the delights of sun, sangria and something else. However, the capital has a particular allure at this time of year for visitors from the Middle Eastern Gulf states of Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Dubai.

And it is the area around Harrods department store in Knightsbridge which has become known by locals as 'Little Kuwait', as tables in the surrounding cafes are almost exclusively taken by young and extremely rich Arabic gentlemen.

London is apparently favoured over other European cities because of the warm welcome afforded to its exotic visitors. Naturally, they like to bring their cars with them - and we are not talking camper vans:

Some splendidly ostentatious examples spotted recently include a Rolls-Royce Phantom with a stainless steel bonnet (complete with the number plate '1', purchased at auction for £9 million), a Veyron encrusted in gold, another completely coated in chrome, and a pearlised white one with shiny chromium wings.

The latter example sported the registration '999'. The driver, a young man trying his best to look like Lewis Hamilton, was asked how he got the car over here. "In my plane," he grinned.

The car was parked in a 'pay-and-display' bay, but its driver seemed indifferent to the requirement to comply with either directive. This attitude seems, unfortunately, to be spoiling the fun and marring relations with the more conscientious residents, who are also concerned by the noise of the 'supercars' disturbing their peace by racing through the streets at night.

Whilst some highly publicised token wheel-clampings have taken place, fiscal penalties are obviously pointless and, in any event, detection by the authorites can often be confounded by the Arabic characters displayed on the vehicles.

The bottom line seems to be that the legendary British tolerance will, especially during these cash-strapped times, extend to falling over itself to court the lucrative foreign business at stake.