Licensed motor vehicles
In 2024*, the number of licensed motor vehicles in the Lancashire-12 area was 768,786. Of these 335,144 used diesel for fuel (including 224,811 cars and 82,279 vans). Only 34,804 had hybrid engines using both petrol and electricity.
The 623,385 licensed cars in the Lancashire-12 area accounted for 81.1% of the total number of licensed vehicles in the area (UK = 81.5%).
The total number of licensed motor vehicles in the Lancashire-12 area has risen by 10,816 (1.4%) on the 2023* figure. The increase was the result of 8,607 extra licensed cars (of which 1,514 were registered in Preston), 2,991 more light goods vehicles, 205 more heavy goods vehicles and 192 more vehicles of type 'other'. The number of registered motorcycles fell by 1,139 including a reduction of 1,037 in West Lancashire. There was a small decrease in the number of buses and coaches. Overall the total number of vehicles in the UK rose by about 490,000.
Please note that significant changes in the number of vehicles from year to year can sometimes occur when companies with large fleets of vehicles change their registered address. The published figures now include an indicator for whether the vehicles are privately or commercially owned, so we can tell if this happens. It appears to be the case from 2023 to 2024 as 1,034 of the 1,037 fewer registered motorcycles in West Lancashire can be accounted for as being company owned. They are also now published quarterly, so (*) indicates that the 4th quarter of the year is being referred to.
The Environment and Transport Neighbourhood Intelligence dashboard allows for more detailed analysis of the licensed vehicle statistics, such as by district or groups of districts, by vehicle type and by year dating back to 2009. Analysis of the cars or vans with diesel engines is also provided. These are found on Slide 2 'Air quality / Road transport' of the dashboard.
Table 1. Licensed motor vehicles, 2024 (4th quarter)
| Area | Cars | Motorcycles | Light goods vehicles | Heavy goods vehicles | Buses and coaches | Other vehicles (1) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnley | 39,739 | 1,163 | 4,828 | 683 | 79 | 507 | 47,000 |
| Chorley | 62,584 | 3,047 | 8,980 | 853 | 190 | 1,469 | 77,123 |
| Fylde | 47,033 | 1,852 | 5,000 | 514 | 124 | 1,047 | 55,570 |
| Hyndburn | 37,752 | 1,227 | 5,682 | 694 | 184 | 498 | 46,037 |
| Lancaster | 65,514 | 3,351 | 9,366 | 1,168 | 281 | 2,341 | 82,021 |
| Pendle | 43,470 | 1,526 | 6,352 | 685 | 158 | 960 | 53,151 |
| Preston | 66,874 | 2,000 | 8,079 | 1,173 | 210 | 1,268 | 79,605 |
| Ribble Valley | 36,635 | 1,518 | 5,949 | 755 | 92 | 2,275 | 47,224 |
| Rossendale | 36,025 | 1,567 | 5,005 | 463 | 50 | 575 | 43,685 |
| South Ribble | 62,445 | 2,918 | 8,800 | 2,020 | 297 | 1,194 | 77,673 |
| West Lancashire | 62,028 | 4,433 | 9,189 | 3,151 | 291 | 2,868 | 81,960 |
| Wyre | 62,203 | 2,818 | 8,110 | 887 | 124 | 2,299 | 76,441 |
| Lancashire-12(2) | 623,385 | 27,493 | 85,441 | 13,050 | 2,083 | 17,334 | 768,786 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 65,636 | 1,767 | 6,784 | 815 | 250 | 863 | 76,115 |
| Blackpool | 58,513 | 2,366 | 6,500 | 323 | 329 | 846 | 68,878 |
| Lancashire-14(3) | 747,534 | 31,626 | 98,725 | 14,188 | 2,662 | 19,043 | 913,779 |
| North West | 3,675,967 | 120,374 | 483,852 | 60,692 | 14,030 | 71,917 | 4,426,832 |
| England | 28,674,579 | 1,180,829 | 4,022,117 | 447,611 | 116,661 | 667,832 | 35,109,629 |
| United Kingdom | 33,966,632 | 1,355,104 | 4,796,955 | 534,310 | 142,903 | 868,526 | 41,664,430 |
Source: Department for Transport: Vehicle Licensing Statistics (table VEH0105).
(1) Other vehicles includes: diggers, rollers, ambulances, hackney carriages, 3-wheelers, agricultural vehicles, lift trucks.
(2) The Lancashire-12 figure includes a small number of "local authority unknown" vehicles.
(3) The Lancashire-14 figure has been calculated by us by summing the Lancashire-12, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool figures.
Page updated October 2025