It's that time of the year when a specialist team from the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency step in to stop our roads from becoming too rude.

The Government agency has released its annual list of registration plates it deems unacceptable to be displayed on brand new cars in two months' time when the new '25' plate arrives.

And this year’s list – released before the first of the bi-annual age-identifying registration number changeover on 1 March – seeks to not just remove any snigger-worthy combinations but to make sure no sensitive topics - such as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict - appear on vehicles.

To avoid upsetting, the DVLA has banned combinations such as '25 RUS' or '25 UKR'.

As well as war themes, other outlawed topics referenced by a combination of the number 25 and letters include religion, politics, racism and crime.

Here are 2025's banned number plates - a list of 210, including the likes of '25 PAZ’, 'TE25 ROR’ and ‘**25 LUT’.

With the changeover to ‘25’ plates comes a whole array of offensive combinations that the DVLA wants to stop anyone snapping up.

What one driver deems as a humorous plate or even a chance to make a political or social statement, another road user can find deeply insulting or insensitive.

It’s the agency’s job to make sure that these situations don't happen.

Each year brings a new challenge to the DVLA, but this year it’s the ‘5’ that appears to look like an ‘S’ that’s enabling a lot of explicit words to be spelled out.

‘**25LUT’, ‘**25HAG’ and ‘**25HAT’ are just a couple of examples of rude words that the DVLA is preventing anyone from using.

Profanity or offensive and disparaging words are strictly not allowed, which also includes ‘AA25HOL', 'BA25TAD', and 'FA25NNY'.

War-themed combos are also not allowed, meaning the likes of ‘AR25 WAR’, ‘EU25 WAR’, ‘GB25 WAR’ and ‘GO25 WAR’ have been removed from availability.

Anything that can be taken as threatening such as '**25 TAB' and 'GB25 KLL' are also not allowed by the DVLA.

While many members of the public do not even know that the DVLA goes through this rigorous process every year, private buyers are annually disappointed they can’t snap up some of the more lighthearted combinations.

But the DVLA puts aside a lot of time to examine and remove any plates, with senior members from the agency meeting twice a year in Swansea to discuss the matter.

After a team of experts have trawled through and examined any combinations that could have potentially rude or offensive meanings, they go to dutiful lengths to make sure these don't end up on the road.

The criteria is that any that 'may cause offence, embarrassment or are in poor taste' are removed. Any that slip through the net can be rescinded at a later date.

Drivers who choose to use banned or non-compliant plates can see their plates confiscated by the police and have to pay a £100 fine.

What does the rest of the number plate mean?

The rest of the characters on the plate are given as usual, with the first few letters indicating the region where the car is registered.

The end of the number plate, however, is randomly generated and is used as a way of uniquely identifying the car. 

Plate regional identifier tells you where your car was registered

Below is the list of regional identifiers from the DVLA's guide. It will not use I, Q or Z in local tag identifiers and will only use Z as a random letter.

Does a number plate change reduce your car's value? 

New plate cars are always in demand, although less so than they once were. 

A car on a new plate will obviously be newer and has a knock-on effect on those on previous plates but this will not make a substantial difference to car value.

Condition, history, mileage and other factors will tend to matter more to buyers than a six monthly plate change.  

Darryl Bowman from the car insurance app Cuvva told This is Money previously: 'If you're looking to sell your car soon and want the best price possible, it's best to sell before the new plates come out.

'And if you want to grab a bargain for a nearly-new car, buying a car that's registered one plate back might be a good idea.

'There are ways to lower the depreciation of a car, including regular servicing, MOT checks, choosing a popular model and reducing your driving time to keep mileage low.'