The launch took place at the Public Transport Authority stand at the Motor Fair.

Mr Mugliett said that although personalised number plates cost more than the normal number plates, 20 per cent of car owners preferred to have personalised number plates. There are around 55,000 personalised number plates to the normal 235,000 ones.

The new number plates can take up to eight letters or numbers or a combination of both. To purchase one such number plate one must access www.my-plate.com and participate in an auction where the minimum prices begin from Lm500.

Every month a substantial number of plates are put up for sale. Those who want to purchase a particular number plate must register their own number plate on the same website so that this is put up for sale by auction the next month.

The minister said this was an innovative way to earn more funds for the authority. Every year the Maltese public spends a lot on new cars and on accessories for their cars. These new number plates are accessories that every car lover dreams of getting hold of, Mr Mugliett said.

The authority meanwhile announced another initiative to encourage people to pay their registration fees earlier and thus eliminate the queues which tend to gather at the end of every month. Every three months the authority will hold a lottery for those who would have paid in their registration fee before the Friday which falls before the 15th of the month. The winner gets refunded the registration paid.

Speaking at the beginning of the Road Safety Week, the minister said everyone must help to cut down on the average 15 deaths a year on the roads. Over the coming two years, the minister said, government will be engaged in a wide-ranging upgrading exercise on roads which, among other aims, intends to make the roads a safer place through eliminating the dangers resulting from roads in a bad state of repair.

Most importantly, he insisted, we must change our culture: we must understand the rules are there for our own safety and not as means of increasing revenue through fines. Rules and regulations are there to protect our own safety, that of those in the same car and all those using the road, both pedestrians and passengers.