Why would I have all the stuff with me and the plates to put on the car to then not be putting them on??

If he'd stopped me prior to my plate purchase I would have sucked it up. It was like he was relishing behaving like a cunt! Telling me I should have gone to Halfords on my way to the DVLA office and got a plate until I swapped them 45 minutes later. There was no need for it. And yes it was a pressed plate not that I see the relevence, would it have made a difference if it was a plastic one with non standard font or a normal plate respaced.

Rules are rules, saddly they seem far more keen in enforcing the easy stuff rather than tackle things that might mean getting there hands dirty. I find I am rapidly losing the remaining respect I had for the police, and I have to work with them pretty frequently