YJ05 ACZ is a North Yorks Volvo traffic car. It is one of a number with consecutive registration plates. Notice the lack of badges and wording down the sides, only the non-emergency number is written in the gap below the rear-most window.
NK51 WWU This is a Northumbria Police Ford Transit, used as a mobile cctv unit. The phrase ‘caught on camera’ is written down the side and a white camera pod can be seen sticking out of the roof.
The side-on view of a regular Northumbria Police personnel carrier.
V259 ECN Before the introduction of battenburg markings, Northumbria’s Transits used to look like this. This HiCube model has a single orange stripe down the sides and large police wording on the bonnet. Four rotating blue beacons are on the roof, and two small repeaters on the grille.
The rear view of the same Transit. This example has accrued an unhealthy amount of rust as it nears the end of its police life. It was approximately 5½ years old when this photo was taken.
YJ04 CCD Very rarely police vehicles are involved in road traffic collisions en-route to emergency calls. After passing through a red traffic light at a busy junction, this North Yorkshire Police Ford Focus was involved in a low-speed collision with a member of the public in a J-reg black Mazda. Colleagues are quickly on the scene to direct traffic and investigate the incident.
On the right of the picture is the motorist being breathalysed by a plain-clothed police officer. This is standard practice for all drivers in collisions. An officer can be in plain clothing at any time to make the requirement for a breath test, but must be in uniform to administer the test, unless it is after a road traffic collision.
YE52 URT In this scene two West Yorkshire Vauxhall Zafiras have been escorted into York city centre on blue lights by a local North Yorkshire Volvo V70 traffic car. The officers are being briefed at the scene of a decontamination emergency. Fire and ambulance service personnel can be seen in the background, along with inflatable decontamination tents. In the rear of the Zafiras are racks of equipment.
FH51 CZB This is a Nottingham Mercedes ML-series. It is a Traffic car used to investigate serious and fatal collisions. Its powerful lighting system fitted on an extendable roof pylon helps illuminate collision scenes.
FD03 YLG The Nottinghamshire Police Volvo V70 is pictured outside an emergency gate at East Midlands Airport. Notice the Crimestoppers advert on the passenger door.
FD02 RCY This Volvo S60 is one of a pair that replaced a T-reg and a R-reg S70 with Nottinghamshire Police. Due to the restricted boot space for traffic policing equipment, they opted predominantly for V70 models (as above).
V619 DRB This is one of Nottinghamshire’s Subaru Imprezas. This very fast, rally-bred car is the fastest in the fleet. Notice the single repeater blue light in front of the nose badge and the ‘police’ wording on the bonnet, which is elongated and mirrored to be easily read from the perspective of a driver’s rear view mirror.
The rear of the Impreza. The side stripe stops short of the rear of the car to accommodate the force crest. The large spoiler dominates the rear, which is absent of any police wording.
The side view showing the unmistakable silhouette of the ‘Scooby’. Unfortunately Notts. decided to withdraw the six-or-so Imprezas from their fleet in 2003.
Nottinghamshire also ran a hatchback version of the Impreza (pictured). Although this car has the appearance of an estate model, it is no slouch! It was the same specification as the saloon above: Prodrive tuned to 276 bhp, racing seats, but no air conditioning. The police drivers reported few negative points, including the uncomfortable seats and thirst for oil (one litre per 8-hour shift).
A rather scenic shot of a Nottinghamshire Volvo V70 T5 in full battenburg livery.
At the scene of a road traffic collision is a silver police Peugeot, partly obscured by an overturned BMW which has hit a Ford Focus.
Y714 CKN A closer look at the front of the Kent Police Peugeot 406.
The opposing view of the collision scene, including the rear view of the above 406. These photos were taken in the village of Denton, on the A260 Folkestone to Canterbury Road, near Canterbury in Kent.
P39 PWY A double-exposure shot of a West Yorkshire Land Rover Defender. This Land Rover has a black bonnet, only one blue light on the roof (and two on the bull bars) and a spot light on the roof. It is used for armed siege work, which is why it is fitted with a armour plating on all sides and bullet-proof windows all-round, as well as a fold-down windscreen guard.
GN04 VHE is a Kent Police Skoda Octavia in silver.
The same car from another angle.
FJ04 YYZ This white Skoda Octavia vRS is a Notts. Police ANPR interceptor. This means that it is equipped with an automatic number plate reading camera on board which detects suspect vehicles. It checks every vehicle registration it sees against the Police National Computer database.
GN54 FFL A Kent Peugeot 206 in half battenburg. The racy looking air intake on the bonnet serves no practical purpose at all!
The rear aspect of this 5-door beat car. Notice that the full-size lightbar is hanging over the edge of the roof.
YJ54 VLX This Ford Ranger is liveried as a Tactical Planning Unit with North Yorkshire Police.
YG52 FYV Another North Yorkshire vehicle, this time a Volvo V70 T5 from the road policing team. Notice the quirky feature of having two red flashing lights hidden among the red diagonal stripes on the rear.
R987 TAU is a Nottinghamshire Police Volvo S70. Notice how the rear chevrons continue onto the flat part of the boot, and spot the two rear-facing flashing blue lights being the rear headrests.
Two Kent Police Skoda Octavia estates. The car on the left is in normal daylight and the car on the right is exposed by the flash. The benefits of fitting day-glow and highly-reflective material to the bodywork means it is very noticeable in all lighting conditions.
YN54 LRE This Peugeot 307 2.0 HDi is a beat car with South Yorkshire Police. This is one of the 2005-specification beat cars, having a larger engine (previously 1.4 HDi’s were used) and battenburg livery. They are a familiar sight in the Sheffield, Barnsley and Rotherham areas.
AJ53 HHL is a silver Ford Mondeo estate police car.
YK54 EFF This 7.5t Iveco Eurocargo truck is used as a mobile police office by the Central Area of North Yorkshire Police. The £50,000 mobile police station was new in November 2004 and had its public launch in March 2005. It follows from the success of a similar 04-reg vehicle used in the Western Area.
The rear view of the vehicle in use. You can see the extendable canopy (with website address) and the scrolling public message sign. There are a number of doors to access the vehicle, including a rear door with a lift for wheelchair access. The only blue flashing lights on the Iveco are at the top of the back. Inside are a computer, fax, printer, radio, video and DVD player.
LX51 GCK is a Ford Transit used for general duties by the Metropolitan police.
LX53 NDO is a Vespa scooter used by the Metropolitan Police in London. It is seen being ridden here by a police support officer.
Here we have a long wheel base Mercedes Sprinter people carrier used by the Metropolitan Police.
W449 UGW is a non emergency Ford Transit used to police London’s red routes. Along these routes traffic is not allowed to stop. This, in theory, reduces the congestion in the city.
Y523 HUA is a Vauxhall Vectra operated by West Yorkshire Police. Notice how the rear number plate has been moved to accommodate the scrolling matrix sign.
Y523 HUA and Y509 HUA Two police Vectras block the road as police officers investigate the cause of a RTA in Leeds.
Y511 HUA is a Volvo V70 T5 also used by west Yorkshire Police.
The rear view of the Volvo showing the high visibility markings and the dot matrix display. Like the Vectras shown above, the number plate has been moved to accommodate this.
YJ04 AUA is a second generation West Yorkshire Vauxhall Vectra. Notice how this vehicle carries the word POLICE on the door bottoms unlike the other traffic cars above.