MIXING up a sporty hatchback and a Chinese motorbike in a new vehicle registration led to the unlucky driver of a Citroen DS3 car nearly facing a charge of driving without insurance.

In the early hours of June 2, police stopped the two-year-old silver car at Honeyborough roundabout, Neyland.

Unbeknownst to the unlucky driver, the registration plate details actually belonged to a small Chinese motorbike.

Posting on Twitter, Pembrokeshire Roads Policing Unit wrote: “Citroen DS3 stop checked during the early hours. Checks revealed the number plate on it referred to an uninsured ‘Nooma 125cc’ motorbike from Worcester.”

Pembs RPU, using a Homer Simpson hashtag, #doh, added: “It was finally ascertained that the dealership had put the wrong number plates on the Citroen from new... some two years ago. #doh”

A Pembs RPU spokesman later elaborated: “We stopped the car during the early hours of the third at Honeyborough roundabout, essentially because the number plate showed as being uninsured.

“When we checked further we ascertained that the number plate was actually registered to the bike from Worcester that was mentioned in the tweet.”

Further painstaking checks were made by officers.

“We conducted chassis number checks on the Citroen, etc, but still to no avail.

“It was only when we ran a postcode check on the owners address that the error became clear, one of the letters on the number plate was wrong, as soon as that was checked it all tallied.

“Our understanding is that those plates had been put on by the garage at time of first registration... no action taken in respect of either party.”