EAST Lancashire Euro-MP Paul Nuttall has warned Brussels to keep its hands off UK vehicle number plates.

MEPs will vote this week on a move which would give the European Union powers to set a standard design for vehicle registration plates in all member states.

UKIP deputy leader Mr Nuttall said: “There is nothing wrong with British registration plates and, if there were, it is up to our government to make any changes. This is all part of the EU obsession with harmonisation, which they are determined to impose on everything.

"It is bound to mean including the dreadful blue and gold ring of stars EU symbol which many already resent seeing plastered all over our country.

“The initial idea was to make it simpler for people to register their vehicle in a different EU country, but the parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee is now proposing equipping all vehicles in the member states with number plates in ‘common colours’.

“This is how the EU works. The Commission puts forward legislation which may seem relatively innocuous, but then it is amended into something far more controlling and intrusive. It was only after a fight that the law was changed to allow motorists to display the Union Flag, Cross of St George, Scottish Saltire, or Welsh dragon on their number plates, but this could be overturned by these proposals.”