Lord Mayor's office looks to sell personalised number plate to plug a gaping hole in Leeds' council budgets

Experts say the number plate - U1 - could raise "substantial" sums at private sale as it was the very first one ever issued in Leeds.

According to legend the plate had been exchanged as a unique gift between two former civic guardians, more than 120 years ago. Now the current Lord Mayor, Coun Al Garthwaite, said it was "oddly fitting" that the legacy of their friendship could help so many years later.

“I’m sure neither of those two former Lord Mayors of Leeds could have envisaged how valuable that gift would one day become.”

Back in 1903, when the Motor Car Act was first passed making number plates mandatory, Leeds resident Rowland Winn had bought the very first one issued in Leeds. The motoring pioneer - a founding member of the Automobile Association (AA) - then gifted it to his friend Arthur Currer Briggs when he was elected later that year. Ever since, it has been used by Lord Mayors of Leeds on their civic vehicle.

Mr Winn, one of the city’s first car dealers, himself served in 1938. He retired from public life in the 1950s and was awarded Freedom of the City in 1956, in recognition of his contribution to the city’s life and prosperity.

Today, Leeds City Council faces an estimated £58.4m financial gap, with officers exploring ways to balance its budgets. Now, after industry experts suggested the U1 plate could fetch a significant amount, the authority has said its sale could help protect frontline services.

It would be replaced on the Lord Mayor’s vehicle by another plate also owned by the council, L6EDS, which is considered less valuable.

Debra Coupar, executive member for resources, said: “The sale of any assets is never something we take lightly and, in an ideal world, would not be something we’d wish to do. However, the financial pressures we are facing are simply so acute, we are being forced to look at all manner of options which we have never explored before.”

This was a “one-of-a-kind opportunity”, she said, to secure funding in a way which wouldn’t impact on the people of Leeds: “In the current circumstances, it’s an opportunity we can’t afford not to examine in more detail.”

Any sale would be subject to further consultation.

To Coun Al Garthwaite, it is "astonishing" to think that the story of this historic number plate began with a kind gesture between two friends more than 120 years ago.

"However, it is oddly fitting that the legacy of their friendship could be to potentially help their city when it is in the midst of such challenging circumstances all these years later."