A SALE of 1,500 personalised vehicle registration plates is expected to total around £5m when they go under the hammer at a DVLA sale at the Morgan factory in Malvern this week.

Among them – and being sold almost exactly 50 years to the day of the event – is a plate commemorating England’s world cup victory of 1966. The registration WC66 ENG (lot 1,368) will go under the hammer with a £400 reserve during the closing stages of the auction on Friday afternoon, July 22, eight days prior to the 50th anniversary of England’s 4-2 defeat of West Germany.

Adam Griffiths, of DVLA Personalised Registrations, said: "We wanted to commemorate England’s World Cup win of 1966 in some way and then, after researching the possibilities, we discovered the WC66 ENG new-style combination was available. Hopefully, it’ll find its way to a fan.

" There should be plates for every pocket in the sale, from those that are likely to fetch a few hundred pounds up to others that could go for many thousands. The total amount will probably be between £4m-£5m.”

As usual, DVLA Personalised Registrations has brought together an eclectic mix of personalised registrations to suit all tastes and budgets. For Loch Ness Monster hunters there’s NES 511E (reserve £250) and for the arty types there’s ART 115T (£250) that sit alongside a variety of ‘names’ such as C41 RLS (£250), DR12 AKE (£700), FL11 OYD (£700) and HO11 DGE (£400).

Mr Griffiths added: "The Malvern sale is the third of five we are holding at various UK venues this year. It will be on this week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, starting at 8.30am each day and lasting until the early evening."