The announcement makes the DVLA one of the last licensees to be appointed by the Organising Committee before the Games and means that members of the public will be able to purchase London 2012 registrations from the DVLA website – www.dvlaregistrations.direct.gov.uk – and at a three-day auction at City Hall in London between June 7 and 9 this year.

Fans at the auction will also have the chance to buy an official box set to accompany their number plate.

GO11 DEN, GB12 ROW and RUN 100M are just three of the 1,750 special registrations that will be on sale at the auction and are expected to be a big hit with motorists and sporting fans alike.

"We are delighted to welcome the DVLA as the latest addition to the London 2012 merchandise programme," said London 2012 commercial director Chris Townsend.

"I'm sure that this London 2012 themed range of personalised registration number plates will really strike a note with fans of the Games."

DVLA rules state that motorists are not allowed to use a new personal number plate to make a vehicle appear newer than it is, so a GB12 ROW number plate would have to be used on a car registered after March 2012.

But a number plate such as RUN 100M could be used on any age car.


The move has also been welcomed by the AA, who believe that the initiative will be an exciting one for motorists.

"There is a small but enthusiastic band of drivers who like to have distinctive number plates," said Paul Watters, the AA head of public affairs.

"The Olympics excite most people and the plan is for the legacy to live on.

"These number plates are another small way of people doing that.

"We are happy the sales are permitted as there is an appetite for them and for some people a reminder of the event may be something they want to cherish."

The DVLA sells around 250,000 registration plates per year with the record for the highest figure paid at auction for the number 1D, which sold for £352,000 ($558,000/€428,000) in 2009.

It is predicted that the London 2012 merchandise programme will generate more than £1 billion ($1.6 billion/€1.1 billion) worth of sales, contributing more than £80 million ($1.27 billion/€97 million) to the staging of the Games.

By Games time, an estimated 10,000 merchandise items will be on sale in the UK.

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