Motorists who are looking to buy a car are urged to check the serial number that appear at the top right hand corner of the V5C registation certification.

If it beat the prefix BG and falls within the range BG 9167501 to BG 9190500, the certificate may be stolen and they are advised not to purchase the vehicle. These V5C certificates have a different background colour on the notification of Permanent Export ( V5C/4) tear off slip on the front and pink on the reverse.

On legitimate documents they should be mauve on both sides. The certificates may be accompanying 'cloned' stolen vehicles that  have had their indentity changed to match that of a legitimate vehicle. They may also accompany stolen vehicles that are not cloned. Anyone who is offered a car with these certificate numbers must not purchase the vehicle, and should  inform the police or the DVLA. For more advice please contact the DVLA helpline on 0870 241 1878. DVLA website: www.direct.gov.uk/motoring