Football fan adds team's plate to his collection

Football fan Tom Talbot from Stoke-on-Trent, has bought his team's perfect registration, 57 OKE. He paid 7,000 for it at auction, where it was offered with a reserve of just 1,900.

Mr Talbot, who owns the Talbot Alsager waste disposal firm in the town of Tunstall, placed his bid by telephone at a three-day event in Northampton organised by the DVLA. "I'm very pleased to be the new owner, especially at the price I got it at. It was well within my budget," he says.

The number will go on one of the company vehicles and will complement AL54GER and TUN574L which are already assigned to the company's transport fleet

Tom, who already sports TAL60T on his own Bentley, treats collecting number plates as a hobby. Altogether, he now has about 40 plates, including some yet to be assigned to vehicles.

"I've been collecting them for a few years, says Tom. I haven't got any other hobbies apart from looking through registration numbers in the paper, but it's good because I can do it from my armchair and they are things no-one can take off you. I'll buy any that come up at a reasonable price."

Regarding his latest football-orientated purchase, he says: "I'm on the lookout for a Port Vale one now. They are just as important as Stoke so I can't forget them."

One of Mr Talbot's sons, Anthony is also a Stoke City fan and says: "We were all brought up in Stoke-on-Trent so he likes to collect the town names. He has got quite a few now. I think the Stoke one was a bargain."

Back to News Index