"A British record sum of £518,000 including taxes and fees has been paid for a personalised registration at auction. The plate '25 O' was sold at a three-day DVLA event in Cardiff marking the 25th anniversary of the Personalised Registrations sales. The buyer, John Collins, owns Talacrest, a dealer in rare classic Ferraris and just hours after paying £130,320 for the registration '250 L' he spent almost five times as much on '25 O'. Both registrations are already destined for classic Ferraris; '25 O' will be worn by a 250 SWB once owned by Eric Clapton, while '250 L' will go on to a 1964 Ferrari Lusso. Moments after his success, Mr Collins said: "I was just determined to own them, it was just a case of how much I was going to have to pay for the privilege." Asked just how much he was prepared to pay for 25 O, Mr Collins replied: "I'm not too sure, it could possibly have been the first £1 million personalised registration!" Jody Davies, DVLA Personalised Registrations' events manager, said: "What a spectacular way to mark our 150th auction during our 25th Anniversary year. While we had high hopes for both registrations, we never dreamt they would be so successful and enable us to make history for the DVLA." The other highest sellers so far in the sale include 'CU11 ENS' £26,648), 'FU11 ERS'(£23,202)and '1 HJW' (£21,084)." - Son of Groucho

The World has truly gone mad... - Son of Groucho