By Nick Dermody BBC Wales News Online names names in the latest DVLA sale

The Welsh dragon is moving to a new lair after being snapped up by a Chinese businessman living in London.

But patriotic Welshmen, and Welsh women, having nothing to fear by its expected trip along the M4, for there are plenty more emblems where that came from.

For sale: "Wales" changed hands for �6,000

In truth, what the Chinese man has bought is not a real-life dragon but the number plate, DRA 6ON, one of hundreds of personalised number plates offered for auction by the Swansea-based Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

And at the DVLA's first Welsh auction in four years, there has been plenty of local flavour to the occasion, such as the plates, W4 LES, W3 LSH and W4 TER.

The two-day sale at the Celtic Manor Resort near Newport, which continues on April 11, aims to raise �3m from the sale of 800 registrations.

The personalised number plate business is a big earner for the agency which sends the Treasury some �63m each year by selling people a number with particular meaning for them.

One of the bidders at the car plate auction was ready for action

People who splash out tens of thousands of pounds for a smart car seem willing to part with a few thousand more to give their new vehicle that personal little touch.

But with the reserve prices starting at �1,000, organisers are hoping it is not just the big spenders who are looking for a licence to spell.

Wales was for sale early on in the Wednesday morning auction - that is, W4 LES.

It went to a woman telephone bidder in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, for the princely sum of �6,000.

And Welsh, or W3 LSH, was not far behind, selling for �5,600.

But bidding for one of Wales's greatest natural resources, water, or W4 TER, finished at �25,500, thanks to a plumber from Pimlico, south London, who came prepared with �100,000 to buy suitably plumber-esque plates for the firm's fleet of 80 vans.

What's in a name? "Taffy" sold for �5,000

Charlie Mullins said: "We have quite a few in our company: BOG 1, DRA 1N and LUG 1."

However, other Welsh qualities went for more affordable sums.

The Welsh-language word for love is cariad, and someone snapped up CAR 14D for just �1,500.

But other local attractions were not always so fortunate.

The plate, V3 TCH, representing Swansea City Football Club's ground, the Vetch Field, failed to reach its reserve price of �1,400.

"Very popular"

A DVLA spokeswoman said: "Plates that have people's initials are very popular.

"When we do hold auctions around the country, including Welsh names, it is usually very successful."

Since the launch of the sales scheme in 1989, the DVLA has sold more than 1.2 m registrations, raising �595 million for the Treasury.