Fireman Sam J999 licence plate sells for £39,500

A car licence plate which matches one originally seen in the children's TV series Fireman Sam has sold for £39,500.

The J999 plate sold at auction by Simon Drieu & Co in Jersey on 3 June, and is the same as the one shown on the fictional fire engine Jupiter in the series which first aired in 1987.

Auctioneer Simon Drieu said the buyer did not purchase it because of its connection to the show and it was "just a coincidence" as they wanted "a three digit number with all the same numerals in it".

He said it was "very good value" as he had sold some similar three digit plates in the island for "considerably more" with some going for in excess of £300,000.

Drieu said he had sold J83 for £103,000, J13 for £178,000, J69 that made £230,000 and "J4 and J5 which made £380,000 and £350,000 respectively".

He also sold J333 for £60,000, J222 for £56,000 and J232 for £48,000.

He said the reason they sell for such large amounts was because of the "prestige of having a super low numberplate" or the "numbers were significant to them for a particular reason" like a birthday or an anniversary.

"Numbers are very peculiar to people. What can be significant to you, could be insignificant to me," he added.

"At public auction, it goes without saying you only need two people who want the same thing."

Drieu said he had sold thousands of licence plates over the years but he "had seen numbers [prices] come down" recently.

He explained that all Jersey registration marks belonged to the Inspector of Motor Traffic and when someone bought a number they were purchasing the mark right, which is the right to assign the number to their vehicle.

He said the inspector could "recall any number at any time because they belong to them".

The auction house assigns numbers to vehicles of "insignificant value" because of a law which states all registration marks must be assigned to a vehicle to be sold.

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