Russian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich yesterday denied that he is the buyer of the Irish number plate VIP 1, which was recently bought for £285,000 (c€427,000).
A spokesman for Mr Abramovich had originally said that "we never talk about his purchases" but yesterday dissociated Mr Abramovich from the sale because of "widespread misinformation" over the past week.
He disagreed that the original formulation could be understood to mean that the plate was one of Mr Abramovich's purchases.
"As a general rule we don't comment . . . but we are making an exception in this case," he said.
A spokeswoman for Luton-based Regtransfers confirmed that the VIP 1 plate had been sold recently but she could not confirm the buyer's name. "Some people who like to keep their identity a secret will have [ a plate] bought through agents, and sometimes we won't be able to tell who is buyer is," she said.
Meanwhile, the VIP 1 plate was yesterday replaced as the most expensive in the world when M1 was sold in England for £351,000 (c€526,000).