OUR number plate is not for sale.
That was the message from bosses at Bolton Town Hall yesterday following suggestions local authorities should auction off the private plates of their mayoral cars to help meet budget deficits.
Bolton’s famous WH 1 Mayoral number plate is worth a six figure sum.
The striking plate was purchased in 1918 by the then-Mayor Lord Leverhulme, the local soap magnate who was born William Hesketh Lever.
Leading registrations firm Regtransfers.co.uk said they would market the plate at £125,000, if it were up for sale.
But spokesman Angela Banh said it would fetch much more at auction.
She said: “This type of plate is the ultimate registration and commands a high figure.”
Council leader Cllr Cliff Morris said he was unsure whether the council would be able to sell it, even if they wanted to.
He said: “It was a gift from Lord Leverhulme so I don’t know if we could sell it. We have lots of silver and things in the Town Hall and the museums that would be good to sell, but when it is a gift, I don’t think we have the legal right.”
Other senior councillors said they would be against parting with the plate, which currently sits on the Mayor’s limousine.
Conservative group leader, Cllr John Walsh, said: “The figure of £125,000 out of a budget of £450 million is relatively small and I don’t think we should be selling our heritage lightly.”
Cllr David Wilkinson, deputy leader of the Lib Dem group, said: “We could sell it but do we really want to reduce the prestige of the mayoralty? It is a big honour being mayor and the plate is part of our heritage.”
But Taxpayers Alliance Spokesman, Mark Wallace, said: “It’s disgusting that councils are hanging on to these egotistical luxuries at a time when taxpayers are struggling to make ends meet.
“Councils facing spending cuts should be selling these private plates.”
Since Lord Leverhulme bought the plate, 92 Mayors, including current First Citizen Cllr John Byrne, have used vehicles featuring it.
Only two — William Hardman in 1985 and Walter Hall in 2006 — had the same initials.
Source [Bolton News]
