Over the winter months, thousands of riders declare their motorbikes as SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) – meaning they can keep their bikes off the road without paying tax.

Recent figures from the DVLA show that of those bikers who only ride part of the year, more than half will take their motorbike out at the start of the “bank holiday season”.

The Easter weekend marks the time when many bikers choose to put their motorbikes back on the road. So the DVLA is providing the truth behind some of the myths around ‘SORN’ing and taxing a motorbike.

Myth 1: “I can still keep my motorbike on the road after I’ve SORN’d it – I just can’t drive it.”

Whilst your motorbike is declared ‘SORN’ it can’t be kept on a public road – so it must be kept in a garage, on a drive or on private land.

Myth 2: “If I’m only going out on my motorbike once I don’t need to tax it.”

By law, motorbikes must be taxed before they’re ridden or kept on the public road. If not, you risk being caught and fined a lot more than the annual cost of taxing your motorbike.

However, there is one time this isn’t the case.

You can ride a motorbike to a pre-arranged MOT appointment under ‘SORN’ – but you must have motor insurance.

Myth 3: “Using a motorbike while its SORN’d is not a big deal.”

Using any vehicle on the public road while it’s declared SORN is a criminal offence under Section 29 of the Vehicles Excise & Registration Act 1994. The maximum fine is £2,500.

Myth 4: “There’s a lot of admin and cost involved in taxing again after SORN.”

Taxing online can take minutes and you’ll receive instant confirmation that your motorbike is legal to ride on the road. You can tax online with your log book (V5C) to hand. If you don’t have your V5C, you can go to a post office to apply for one. They can tax for you at the same time.

Myth 5: “I’ve just bought the motorbike so the ‘SORN’ or tax is transferred to me.”

In the same way that tax isn’t transferred when a motorbike is sold, ‘SORN’ is also not transferred to the new keeper. You must tax a vehicle before you put it on the public road. So, if you’re buying a motorbike and want to take it out straight away – remember to tax it. You can do this at the side of the road on your phone – through the website or contact centre – as long as you have the green new keeper’s slip from the V5C.

Myth 6: “I don’t pay for my tax – it’s free, so I don’t need to tax it or ‘SORN’ it.”

Even if your motorbike is ‘nil rate’ and you don’t need to pay anything when you tax it, you still need to renew your vehicle tax each year and will still need to make a ‘SORN’ if you’re not renewing your vehicle tax.

Myth 7: “The motorbike isn’t registered in my name yet. So I can’t tax it or ‘SORN’ it.”

If you’ve just bought the motorbike, you can still do this, as long as you have the green new keeper’s slip from the log book (V5C). If you don’t have any documents, you can apply at a Post Office.

Rohan Gye, Vehicles Service Manager, said,

While there may be a number of myths about SORN the rules are clear and easy to understand – you must tax your motorbike before putting it on the road. If you’ve SORN’d your bike over the winter months the quickest and easiest way to tax is online.

For more information from DVLA on taxing a vehicle and to do it online today visit www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax.

Updated: Added contact details for National Park advisers.

This includes access to £600 million from the Dreadnought contingency, announced in 2015, and will ensure that the UK’s new world-class nuclear submarines are delivered on time and within the £31 billion budget agreed at the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2015.

In addition £200 million was agreed at the Supplementary Estimates earlier in the year.

A Royal Navy submarine has always been on patrol, providing the continuous at sea deterrent for almost 50 years. And the next generation of submarines will ensure this can continue into the future, deterring conflict and protecting the nation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

This money funds a key government priority that has been the bedrock of defence policy for nearly 50 years.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, said:

Our commitment to defence and national security is unwavering. The UK’s defence budget is the highest in Europe and the second highest in NATO and ensures Britain can continue to respond effectively to the ever-changing threats we face.

We will continue to invest in our world-class Armed Forces and this additional investment of £600 million will ensure the UK is protected by the nuclear deterrent provided by the new Dreadnought fleet into the 2030s and beyond.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

This is a welcome boost to our Armed Forces, ensuring we can continue to back-up our national security with the ultimate capability. In a world of intensifying and evolving threats, we must strengthen and maintain our ability to seize opportunities and counter challenges as they emerge. I have launched the Modernising Defence Programme to ensure we have the capabilities we need to keep Britain safe in an increasingly dangerous world.

A team of Highways England staff is supporting the Brimsham Green School students as part of a programme focused on turning the students’ fundraising ideas into a reality while completing personal challenges to develop their confidence, teamwork and resilience.

The students challenged staff to select a theme and build something creative from Lego in just four minutes at a fundraising event last week, as well as making a presentation on their charitable efforts to a group of Highways England staff.

Highways England mentor Charlotte Collinson said:

We have worked with the group of nine students to build a set of skills that will help them whatever they choose to do in future. As well as being satisfying to watch a shy group of young people build their confidence, it’s a great way to promote the careers on offer in highways England.

We were really impressed with their ideas for fundraising – the Lego challenge was particularly popular with our design and engineering colleagues and we loved the wacky results. This was supported by a cake sale and a table football challenge.

This is the second year Highways England has supported the project and as more staff become involved we hope to continue with more teams in future.

Run by local youth charity Envision and backed by the Careers and Enterprise Company, the 12-week Community Apprentice programme sets young people the challenge of making a difference in the community. The Brimsham Green team is in competition with other local schools and mentors are also in competition with those from other local businesses, as well as a second Highways England team based at Brunel House, Aztec West which is supporting Bradley Stoke Community School.

During May the project will culminate in a Boardroom challenge where students will present their achievements to a group of local business leaders and an overall winner will be announced.

Homelessness charity Caring in Bristol was chosen without hesitation by the students to benefit from their fundraising activities. Demonstrating a real commitment to helping homeless and vulnerable people through this charity which runs a range of projects to help people 365 days a year, the young people set a fundraising target of £400 plus donations. At the Highways England day they had already exceeded this, raising over £400, with more events to follow.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) works with thousands of businesses. We want to celebrate those which are showing exceptional innovation, delivering prosperity to their local communities, and championing free trade.

Our staff care passionately about the businesses they support. The Board of Trade Awards allow us to recognise businesses that we believe deserve special recognition for their role within their communities.

We also want to showcase successes in trade and investment across the whole of the UK, from all sectors, and amongst businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Board of Trade Awards will be given out on an annual basis at Board of Trade meetings as it travels round the UK, during domestic visits and missions, and at an annual business reception. Award recipients are nominated and selected by Civil Servants from the Department for International Trade – we want to ensure that all businesses, not only businesses that have the resources to submit applications for awards, can be recognised.

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for an award, your business must:

• be known to DIT and/or territorial office and/or devolved administration staff
• be headquartered and registered in the UK
• have been recommended against one or more of the criteria by a DIT staff member/contractor or territorial office
• pass our internal and/or outsourced screening process with no red or amber flags (eg media profile, any credit/bankruptcy issues, sanctions, regulatory standing)
• pay tax in the UK

To win an award, your business must have made an outstanding contribution to international trade in one or more of the following ways:

• champions free trade through exporting and inspires others to export
• drives notable investment into the UK, generating wealth and jobs
• demonstrates outstanding use of finance in international trade
• demonstrates an innovative approach to opening up international markets
• makes a significant contribution to security and stability in the UK and/or abroad through trade and investment

How we’ll choose the winners

Relevant national or regional teams from the Department for International Trade and territorial offices will choose and shortlist nominees at the beginning of the year.

When we finalise the shortlists, we’ll inform businesses. The relevant regional or national teams will then work with them to agree a case study.

A panel of senior leaders within DIT (none of whom are in positions that involve regular contact with any of the nominees) will choose the winners. We’ll present the awards across the UK nations and regions.

Award winners will receive:

• an engraved Board of Trade medallion
• a framed certificate
• use of the Board of Trade award winner logo on their websites and products/services

Winning businesses will need to sign a permissions of use form to use the logo in this way for 12 months only.