WHEN it comes to understanding what the new vehicle registrations stand for, practically no one really knows. A is for Anglia of course, or is it Avon? B, we all know, is for Birmingham ... or maybe it's Berkshire? At least everyone knows that L is for London ... or do they?

The fact is that the motoring public - including 72 per cent of men and 81 per cent of women - have no idea about them all, according to a new survey from Autonational Rescue. In the capital, 82 per cent of motorists know that L stands for cars sold in and around London, while 10 per cent believe it stands for something else and eight per cent are clueless. But only 39 per cent of Londoners know that E registrations are from Essex and just four per cent know D stands for Deeside.

Typical wrong answers included:

A is for Aberdeen, Avon, London. Right answer Anglia.

B is for Bristol, Brighton, Berkshire, Bradford, Blackburn or Bucks. Right answer is Birmingham.

C is for Coventry, Central, Cambridge, Chester, Cornwall, Carlisle or Cumbria. Right answer is Cymu.

D is for Devon, Durham, Derby, Dorset or Dundee. Right answer is Deeside to Shrewsbury.

E is for Edinburgh, Evesham, East Anglia or Eastern. Right answer is Essex.

F is for Falkirk, Fife, Folkestone or Farnham. Right answer is Forest and Fens.

G is for Gloucester, Guildford, Gwent, Grimsby or Glasgow. Right answer is Garden of England.

H is for Huddersfield, Hamilton, Humberside or Hereford. Right answer is Hampshire and Dorset.

K is for Kent, Cornwal, Kings Lynn or Kidderminster. Right answer is Central South.

L is for Leicester, Liverpool, Luton or Livingstone. Right answer is London.

M is for Midlands or Motherwell. Right answer is Manchester and Merseyside.

N is for Nottingham, Norwich, Northumberland or North London. Right answer is North.

O is for Orkneys, Oswestry or Oldham. Right answer is Old Ford.

P is for Portsmouth, Peterborough, Plymouth, Perth, or Penzance. Right answer is Preston.

R is for Rutland or Rochester. Right answer is Reading.

S is for Stoke-on-Trent, Sussex, Swindon, Southampton, Stroud, Staffs, Swansea, Sheffield, Suffolk or Somerset. Right answer is Scotland.

V is for Liverpool. Right answer is Seven Valley.

W is for Wolverhampton (Wolves), Winchester, Worcester, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Wessex, Wiltshire or Wales. Right answer is West of England.

Y is for Yeovil or Gt Yarmouth. Right answer is Yorkshire.