V12 COP This ex-US Ford Police Interceptor car has been converted into a publicity vehicle for the UK charity Care of Police Survivors (Cops). It has a blue-red light bar and a personalised registration plate.
The rear view of the car.
R945 TFJ This road-legal monkey bike is decked out in CHIMPS Highway Patrol livery. The badge on the side says it is ridden by Officer Jim Panzee! It is fitted with blue lights all round and is used as a publicity vehicle. CHIMPS is a play on words of CHiPs, the California Highway Patrol.
The rear view of the quirky bike.
This warden boat is used on Lake Windermere. It look similar to a police boat, being white with blue writing and a blue light bar.
The reverse view of this boat that is seen here undergoing maintenance.
This boat, Merlin, is used by the wardens on Lake Windermere to patrol and uphold the rules of the lake. It carries blue flashing lights and fire service-style battenburg markings of red and yellow.
The boat on patrol out on the lake.
This Hyster 2.50 fork lift truck has an unusual addition of a blue strobing beacon in addition to the traditional amber beacon. It carries no registration plate.
X583 LGV This is a Mercedes Sprinter conversion to a control vehicle used by the Sky Watch Civil Air Patrol organisation. This voluntary service uses aircraft to observe and report to assist the emergency services.
FX58 AVY This is a MEV Hummer HX. It is a scaled down version of a Hummer produced by a company called My Electric Vehicle. It is electric only and is comparable to a golf kart. A client commissioned this design and one of their dealers saw it and ordered another for promotional use.
A look at the front, showing the red and blue flashing light bar and white flashing lights in the grille. The car has a retail price in in excess of £10,000.
Another view of this two-seater electric car that is just 3m long. It has a 60 mile range and a 19 mph top speed.
GX05 OMK This Honda CR-V is used by the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team. The team has been patrolling the cliffs at Beachy Head since 2004, looking for people in distress at this suicide hotspot. They carry our pro-active patrols and respond to sightings. They use search dogs and trained volunteers to provide 24/7 cover.
The rear view of the CR-V showing the eye-catching markings.
A look at the team’s CR-V with amber and red flashing lights showing outside of the HQ.
LD05 RZV This is a red Suzuki Jimny which is also with the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team. This car is the oldest of the fleet and is due to be retired at the end of 2011.
This fun pedal-powered kart was made by GCSE students at Ringwood School and was to allow Hampshire Police to enter the British Pedal Car Grand Prix in July 2010. It is driven and partially built by PC Keith Waller and follows closely Hampshire’s standard livery. The top speed is 20 mph.
This is one of the few quad response vehicles in the UK. This is not owned by a company but belongs to Chris Lee who is the Divisional Superintendent of one of the St John Ambulance brigades in Cornwall. The quad can be called upon by the local community or the emergency services.
MK08 FYY Oldham Council operates this Mitsubishi Shogun as part of thier First Response Team. It carries a dark brown and yellow battenburg pattern, very similar to Highways Agency Traffic Officers. This is one of six 4×4 response vehicles they operate.
The Mitsubishi being used to reach snow-bound residents around Oldham. Photo courtesy of Oldham Council.
DX03 LML This Ford Mondeo estate is marked as an emergency vehicle. It also has Parks Patrol and Dog Section wording. It is operated by Emergency Services Support, a private security company.
Here is the same Mondeo in its previous life as a Staffordshire police car.
This VW Caddy is used as a bee response unit by an organisation called the Bee Operational Guidance United Society. This newly united society responds to swarms of bees to protect the public and to protect the bees as they are in decline. Manned by two beekeepers, the van is fitted with a personalised registration plate which reads “buzz off”. An appropriate black and yellow colourscheme has been adopted.
The VW is fitted with blue flashing lights after a special dispensation was allowed as the team often travel long distances across the country chasing bees.
The rear view, including one of the crew. Both crew members wear the suits at all times, including when in the vehicle. In the rear is emergency bee equipment including more protective suits, warning signs and honey pots.
In the official press release, chairwoman April Fursed said “Since we were endorsed by the Queen and Sting, we’ve been buzzing. Before getting this van, workers were bumbling along responding on the fly. We’ve now hived together enough funds to take the sting out of buying it.”.
This vehicle was an April Fool!
X999 SPS This luminous orange Vauxhall Vivaro is used by the medical supplies company SP Services.
WA04 AEN This Honda ST1300 is decked out in bright yellow with red checker markings. It has Motorola logos on all sides and the rider’s jacket. Written in very small letters on the front is “ambulance service first responder” and the bike is fitted with blue flashing lights all round.
S161 AFM This Vauxhall Vectra is a demonstration car for Jake’s Emergency Lights. It is decked out in ambulance-style battenburg markings and is fitted with a range of flashing lights.
The front view with some minor revisions.
This Audi-based rapid response ambulance car was custom-built by a Second Life user.
RF58 TDZ This Fiat Doblo is used by park rangers in the Lambeth borough of London. It is fitted with a floodlight on the roof and a small multi-directional amber flashing light.
Another view of the same Fiat Doblo. It carries police-style battenburg markings and ‘park ranger’ wording written in two different sizes. It carries the council’s logo on the front and rear.
BK56 UZW This is a Ford Ranger XLT Thunder. It is owned and operated by Birmingham’s NEC Group to police the private roads around the National Exhibition Centre. It is decked out in police style battenburg markings and has blue lights fitted.
The rear view of the Ford Ranger. The open back of the double-cabbed truck is useful for transporting cones and barriers.
BK56 UYF This is another Ford Ranger with the NEC’s Traffic section. This example has the rear cover in place over the pick-up’s rear storage section.
BJ56 ONP This is a Mitsubishi Shogun that is used by Birmingham NEC’s security guards. It is fitted with blue flashing lights and police-style markings and is used solely on the private roads of the large exhibition centre.
The rear view of the security team’s Shogun.
GJ52 CZY This is Iveco van is used by the Salvation Army as an Emergency Response Unit. It is used to provide refreshments at major incidents. The vehicle does not carry any blue lights.
BU07 FFN This is Iveco truck used by the National Grid as a Mobile Command Unit. The vehicle is used to provide communication an co-ordination during a major power cut.
A second view of the truck. It is deployed to major power outages and is fitted with floodlights and a satellite dish. It has amber flashing lights all round.
This is an ambulance gondola. It is used on the Nevis Mountain Range amongst regular 6-person cable cars that transport people from 300ft to 2150ft in 12 minutes. If a person was injured on the mountainside, this specialist gondola is added to the system and moved to directly above the casualty. From there they can be winched up into it and then transported back down the mountain to safety.
26 BK 38 This unusual vehicle is a military Humber one-tonne armoured vehicle.
EX54 EHP is a Ford Ranger that is used as an Emergency Response vehicle by Epping Forest District Council’s Emergency Planning Team. The vehicle is based at North Weald Airfield and is equipped with amber beacons, a PA, siren and light mast. It also has a trailer that can be towed to an incident and used to set up a forward control point, with shelter, tables, chairs, a generator, additional lighting etc.
This Trading Standards car in Oxford is fitted out with fire-style red and yellow battenburg markings. It also carries ‘video equipped’ wording and the Crime Stoppers telephone number.
LC54 BHU This is a red Ford Mondeo that is used by Onus Technologies as a demonstration car. It is seen here is police-style, with blue and red flashing lights and a police sign. The red and yellow colour scheme of the car is the same as fire cars. Inset: a close up of the crest on the front doors.
KU07 YDY is a Mercedes Benz Sprinter that is used by ESS Safeforce as a Confined Space Safety and Rescue vehicle. It is decked out in fire brigade-style yellow and red battenburg markings and has amber lights all round.
The rear view of the same vehicle.
WP06 AVK is a Civil Protection Unit operated by Swindon Borough Council. This can be used at major incidents to help coordinate the council’s contribution. It has amber flashing lights and is a converted Ford Transit.
This Land Rover Discovery 3 has the same colour scheme as a police vehicle but is used as an ‘incident unit’ by the amber-light service D&G Cars Ltd. The blue portion of the livery has to be non-reflective to keep within the law.
R999 WAG is a multi-purpose Land Rover Freelander. It is used to transport medics to remote locations or in snowy weather and also used for traffic monitoring work. It is fitted with a range of amber flashing lights.
Q107 JCP This is the Backdraft Wheelie Truck, a custom-built vehicle that looks like a fire engine. It has blue flashing lights all round and water pumps fitted. Here you can see it starting to lift its front wheels as flames ironically shoot from the twin vertical exhausts.
The rear view of Backdraft showing its party piece of driving on its rear wheels. It can turn corners by having individual brakes on each wheel. The water tank has been emptied and steel to the same weight has been added for stability.
YKL 374J is a kit car based on an Austin Mini. Although full liveried, it features no blue lights. It is used for publicity purposes.
The rear view showing that this vehicle is intended for beach patrols. It is odd to see such a modern liver on such an old car.
OE02 UJJ is a Subaru Impreza Turbo featuring police signs, police crests and even roof markings. It is however used not as an operational vehicle but by the Dorset Police rally team.
The rear view, showing the internal roll cage and driver and co-driver’s names.
This Mitsibishi 4×4 with private registration plate is owned by ‘First Safety’ and is used by them as a tactical support unit. It is fitted with amber flashing lights and red and blue squares up the sides.
The rear view of the Mitsibushi.
This Volkswagen Beetle look-a-like car is designed for children. It is seen here in a police livery with a comical number plate. It is designed to attract people to the sales stand for Crown Conversions (Airdrie).
A lot of effort has gone into building this electric car. It is compete with high visibility markings and even has its own retractable roof.
R108 YAS This Ford Collin County (United States) police car was also spotted in the UK.
JVO 902V A Naval Patrol Land Rover.
H45 AAB An ex-RAF Land Rover. It is in excellent condition and still has a blue revolving light on the roof as well as repeaters on the bull-bars. Above the windscreen is a space where an illuminated ‘ambulance’ sign used to be.
The rear view. This type of Land Rover was used as crash ambulances. They were used when an aircraft came down away from its base.
E788 LAJ is a 1987 fire-engine-style recovery appliance owned and run by Commercial Services (Tadcaster) CST Ltd. It is an Air Cushion Recovery Unit and shares it’s blue colour scheme with a number of similar vehicles in the fleet. However this is the only one to have blue lights fitted. It is an ex-North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue vehicle. After being involved in a crash when on a blue light run, the vehicle was written off and bought by CST. They refurbished it and kept the blue light bar in place. It may be that the vehicle was a declared resource of NYFRS to assist with lifting HGVs as RTCs and that CST have a good relationship with watches at Tadcaster fire station which is almost next door.
E789 LAJ is the sister vehicle of the above appliance. It is an Dennis DS153 / HCB-Angus emergency tender with NYFRS
R446 TBC This is a Vauxhall Astra which is used as a warden’s patrol vehicle. Wardens work very closely with the police to provide extra manpower in specific housing estates.
The rear view. This Astra is decked out in a police-style livery and has a camera and monitor mounted inside to collect evidence of criminal or unruly behavior.
Y336 FAR An Orange County Sheriff’s Ford Crown Victoria police car. The vehicle is used for crime prevention in the UK and was a gift from the US force.
The rear view. Notice the middle livery on the boot lid is Northumbria Police (the owners) and the additional flashing lights on the parcel shelf.
This is probably the smallest police car in Durham Constabulary’s Fleet!
This is a Boston Fire Chief fire car. It has red flashing lights and was kept at Allendale, Northumberland by a collector of American vehicles. [non-operational]
Now here’s a rare sight for UKev… The Royal ‘B’Air Force Sea King helicopter has landed in the Lake District to pick up a wounded bear!
An emergency planning unit run by the local authorities to control all the services in the event of a major disaster.
This is an emergency planning unit trailer. This one carries an inflatable tent for shelter wherever it is needed. It is towed by the vehicle below.
We have here a white Ford Maverick. It is equipped with a Dorman magnetic beacon for when it is used for emergency responses. It has Wig wag flashers front and rear and comes with siren and public address system (used for off-road and public information). In addition it is equipped with VHF, UHF and PMR radio. A 30-foot telescopic mast is mountable to the rear of the vehicle for use as a forward command post and it also comes complete with a electric generator. It also carries a mountable winch, comprehensive first aid kit and foam fire extinguisher and various hi-viz jackets.
Here is a Red Vauxhall Astra, used for emergency responses. It is equipped with a premier hazard orange lightbar, front grill strobes and rear ‘wig wag’ flashers. Communication is via a Motorsport Safety & Medical Frequency radio, CB and mobile phone. It also has a siren and public address system (this is used off-road for responses and to pass on information to spectators). In addition to this it also carries fire extinguishers, a comprehensive first aid kit, traffic cones, tool kits, scene tape (like police line tape but red/white or red/yellow) and Hi-Vis clothing.