Buying & Registering a Car in France - Limits on Use in UK

[Kennymike]

Views and advice please. 

We are UK residents but spend a lot of time at our maison secondaire in France, which we expect will increase in the next year or so.  I am thinking that on several counts it may be cheaper for us to replace our second car with one bought in France that we would, of course, also register and insure locally in France.  We would on occasion leave it in France when we make return trips back to the UK.  However, can anyone say please what restrictions will apply to using it if we bring it over to the UK on a regular basis?  Am I right that the DVLA require that if a vehicle is to remain in the UK for 6 months or more then it needs to be registered with them?  I have been told that French insurance companies allow cover to apply throughout the EU.  Is there anything else to consider?

[Sunday Driver]

The DVLA says :

There are international agreements which provide for the temporary use of a vehicle in a foreign country for a limited time, usually six months in a 12 month period. A visitor to the UK may use a vehicle displaying foreign plates, provided that all taxes (including vehicle excise duty) are paid in their country of origin.

The Directgov website (managed by the e-Government Unit, part of the Cabinet Office) repeats the above statement and goes on to say: 

If a vehicle bearing foreign plates is stopped by the police, it is the responsibility of the keeper to demonstrate that he or she is eligible to use the vehicle in the UK without registering and taxing it.

It then goes on to say:

It is the responsibility for the driver to prove how long the vehicle has been in the country. This can be achieved by producing ferry tickets.

This information, which has been published by these official government websites, is clearly poorly worded.  For example, the keeper and the driver are different legal concepts, and "usually six months in a 12 month period" is an imprecise statement and therefore open to interpretation. 

Seems to me that if you were stopped by the police and you produced a ferry ticket not older than 6 months, then its unlikely that any further enquiries will be made to establish the cumulative time you've beeen there.

[;)]

[Kennymike]

Thanks Sunday Driver -  for a helpful, well-explained and pragmatic reply.  Cheers!