All MOT testers will soon be required to take photos of every vehicle they put through the test, after a successful pilot scheme. As reported by the BMF in March 2025, the move is aimed at reducing MOT fraud, and for testers to turn a blind eye to items such as illegally small number plates. Chris Price, head of the DVSA’s head of MOT policy, said at the time: “We want to create a level playing field where high quality testing is the standard. Capturing images at the time of the test will help prevent fraud while ensuring MOTs are conducted correctly.”

A six-week trial involving 62 testing stations and around 170 testers saw over 13,000 photos uploaded to the MOT Testing System, and the DVSA is now preparing to go nationwide with the photo requirement. It says that as well as providing an extra layer of transparency, the photo system will provide evidence that an actual vehicle was present for the test – this would help prevent ‘ghost’ MOTs, where the bike, car or truck involved wasn’t taken to the MOT station, but was given a pass anyway.

At the BMF, chair Jim Freeman welcomed the move. “Sounds good, if you’re a law abiding citizen, but I thought that real time testing had sorted this out years ago, a test has to take a certain amount of time and most vehicles have live emissions tests as part of the MOT. I’m not too sure what difference having a picture’s going to make. It’s easy to stick a regulation sized plate on for the camera, some double sided tape would do the job for the time required.”

Written by Peter Henshaw

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