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We're off to France in a couple of weeks and been told to take my V5 and caravan registration.  Will I be ok to take copies or do I have to take orginals.  Just not keen keeping orginals in car or van in case of theft.

we carry both. I have photocopys of all our paperwork and hide on set.

Margaret

Hi there.

According to the Caravan Club Foreign Touring Guide, your original V5 Registration Document should always be carried when abroad, wherever you go. Likewise your MOT if your car needs one, and an Insurance Certificate that confirms you are covered in the countries you visit (most UK certificates do anyway).

Again according to the Caravan Club: "Britain and Ireland are the only European countries where caravans are not formally registered in the same way as cars. This may not be fully understood by police and other authorities. You are strongly advised to carry your Caravan CRIS registration document". 

Having said that, a good copy from a decent home printer is virtually indistinguishable anyway.

It's also worth noting that the UK is still the only country in Europe where you do not have to carry your ID with you at all times (why else do all the illegal immigrants want to live here?), so if you get stopped on the road for a Driving Licence check (as I was in April) it will be no use saying your Licence is back on site in the caravan. Having said that, don't worry about it, as that was the first time we've been stopped in nearly 40 years.

The other thing Plod wanted to check was (you've guessed it) Hi-viz vests INSIDE the car for everyone. NB They were stopping absolutely every car, not targeting foreign ones, and a French lady whose hi-viz was in the boot got a ticket!

We take originals and copies of  all documents we take with us.

There's also no legal requirement for everyone in the car to have a high viz jacket either - just the driver. It's primarily because the driver is the one required to go outside to put out the triangle 30m behind the vehicle, so they are required to be visible when doing so, by wearing the jacket.

Although again, common sense might suggest that jackets are available for everyone in case all have to leave the car.