OY51 BKG A West Yorkshire Police Volvo S40. This vehicle started life as a demonstrator, hence the non-Yorkshire registration prefix.



The rear view. Notice the common set up on WYP traffic policing vehicle: the registration plate has been mounted on the bumper (with additional lights to illuminate it at night) and a variable message matrix sign has been put in its place. Also notice the extra red flashing lights mounted at the bottom of the bumper.

This Mercedes Sprinter riot van / personnel carrier is run by Avon and Somerset Police.

Here is a BMW 330TDI area car from Hampshire. Insets: the side views.

Another Hampshire police car: a Volvo V70 T5 used for traffic policing duties.

N7_6 OYR A Metropolitan Police Mercedes Sprinter personnel carrier keeps an eye on protestors outside the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in Westminster, London.

P284 PYW The rear view of a similar Mercedes Benz, packed with police officers in high-visibility uniforms.

R584 ULX leads a line-up of six police riot vans stand prepared for any unrest around Parliament on the day the Hutton Report on the UK going to war against Iraq is published.

LY03 UFS The Met moved towards using more silver vehicles in 2003. This example is a Vauxhall Astra beat car.



The rear view of the same car. The idea behind using silver cars is the residual value when the time comes to sell it on. The police can expect as much as 10% more for a desirable silver coloured car than a less-desirable white car.

LY02 RHX A traditional white Met Vauxhall Omega used for traffic policing duties in the capital.

X992 YGU The rear view of an identical vehicle. Notice the matrix variable message sign built into the roof bar.

Two views of a silver Met BMW K 1200 GT motorbike, with hotchpotch battenburg markings.

Y657 PMX A very familiar sight on London’s roads in the early 2000’s is the Ford Fiesta panda car. Here is an unusually dirty example, blamed on the snowy weather.

W552 UGW Another very familiar panda car is the Vauxhall Astra.

LV52 NXR A traditional white BMW R 1150 RT motorbike is mounted by a female police outrider.



The rear view of the same bike.

W348 UGW is a Met Omega in a battenburg colour scheme. Battenburg markings are used primarily on police vehicles that may need to stop on a fast-moving road. They have been proven to be noticeable from a greater distance than just a stripe.



The rear view of the same Vauxhall Omega.

N96 OUW Two shots of a 1996 Metropolitan Police Mercedes-Benz T1 truck. Notice the twin blue light roof bars, the retractable armour and the ‘old’ Met Police logo (without the ‘Working for a Safer London’ statement).

A silver BMW 5-series Touring armed response unit from the Met.

YA02 CDK is a North Yorks. Police Vauxhall Vectra training vehicle. It is not fitted with any emergency warning equipment, but does have a white bonnet, battenburg markings on the sides and reflective striping on the rear. Inset: rear view.

YG02 EYY This is a Nissan Terrano 4×4 police vehicle.



The rear view. Note that the ‘crimestoppers’ advert has been placed on the spare wheel cover, as there is little space for the standard body-livery adverts that are seen on the rear of all North Yorkshire police vehicles.

Here are a pair of 03-registration Avon and Somerset Skoda Octavia vRS’s used in the Bristol and Bath areas. Skodas are well accepted within police forces around the country because of their excellent combination of performance, reliability and value for money. For (the public price of) £15,000 you get a 180bhp 1.8 litre engine and a 8-second 0-60 time as it zooms towards its top speed of 146mph.

PCZ 4361 This is a PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) MG ZT saloon. The silver body colour is replacing white on some cars in some police forces to increase the sell-on value of the vehicle after its police life. The PSNI replaced the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) as part of the Northern Ireland peace process in 2001.

KXI 9405 This is a heavily armoured PSNI Landrover. It is liveried with battenburg stripe and has bullet-proof windows. It also has grilles over all the front lights and roof lights, as well as the windscreen and below the registration plate to protest the officers in dangerous situations.

This is a V-registration BMW police motorbike from Dorset Police.

This is a Honda Goldwing police bike. It was one of a number of ‘liveried’ motorcycles that Honda supply to the police for the NW200 in Northern Ireland. It may well be exactly the same vehicle that Durham Constabulary were using in 2000

R191 PKH is Humberside Police’s awesome Subaru Impreza. Upgraded by Subaru specialists Prodrive, this four wheel drive, turbocharged car is highly suited to chasing cars. The suspension has been upgraded so that it can take speed humps at 70 miles per hour, and it has lightening quick acceleration and incredible road-holding. These factors mean that when a suspect car drives flat out through a red traffic light, the police can slow down, negotiate the junction at a safe speed and accelerate to catch up with the suspect with relative ease.



The side shot of the car. Notice the spoiler and gold alloy wheels. This car has a top speed of 150 mph and can get to 60 mph from a standing start in 5 seconds. This ‘pursuit car’ was bought for its performance and because it stands out, almost acting as a crime deterrent.



The rear view. This was the first Subaru Impreza police vehicle to be used in the UK. It replaced the Ford Escort Cosworth in Humberside and its police life lasted from 1998 until 2001.

AJ51 VLX This is a green Ford Mondeo from North Yorkshire Police. It has been used as an ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) car by the road policing group and was used for covert work before its battenburg livery was added. It has blue strobes hidden behind the front grille.

The side-on shot showing the conspicuity of its livery.

YJ53 EKV This is a NYP firearms unit. Based on a Ford Iveco Cargo cab, the rear is used as a briefing area, armoury and communications office for prolonged or pro-active firearms operations.

NU52 LNR is one of Cleveland Police’s Volvo S60s.

VN52 GHY This is a Vauxhall Astravan police support unit belonging to North Yorks. Police. It is not fitted with blue lights and is used primarily for non-urgent movement of equipment. It is liveried to increase police presence.

R313 TRH is a very odd vehicle: a Humberside Police community safety Proton Persona. This yellow / green car has been tastelessly liveried with sponsor’s advertising, diagrams and boasts about the benefits of running on LPG.



The rear view, showing more of the livery.