This Vauxhall Vectra is used as a police area car in north Leeds. The car differs from the traffic police versions that West Yorkshire Police use in both its livery and performance.

VO54 USL is a Vauxhall Vivaro 2900 used by West Yorkshire Police as a truancy patrol vehicle. It is seen here in Leeds city centre helping to close off roads during a fun run.

GK02 WZU is a West Yorkshire police LDV Cub. It is heavily liveried up to identify its role as a video van.

This silver Jaguar X-Type is a police demonstrator. You can see that a super-slim light bar has been mounted onto the roof rails.

This Renault Formula 1 racing car was partially re-liveried to become a police car for the day. ‘Police’ wording was added to the front wings, side pods and rear. Yellow and blue checkers were added to the top of the cockpit and the sides of the engine, along with ‘Metropolitan Police’ badges. To finish it off, a led light bar has been added to the rear wing. Naturally this is just a publicity vehicle and has not been used on the roads!

G13 RSR The silly season continues with this Porsche GT3 RS which was on loan to Durham Constabulary as part of their Bike Wise show in 2006. It has a 3.6 litre engine that produces 375 bhp at 7,400 rpm. This allows it to accelerate to 62 mph in only 4.4 seconds and then continue on to a top speed of 190 mph! Unfortunately it was not used for policing duties out on the roads. Inset: Rather ironic for a ‘police car’ is the addition of two false screw heads to the rear registration plate to make it read like the model of the car.

YB06 TYS This Iveco public order van is used by North Yorkshire Police. It has a windscreen grille, tough plastic shields over the lights as well as under-body protection that can lessen the impact of a petrol bomb for example.



The rear view of the personnel carrier which has a prisoner cage in the rear portion.

Warwickshire have decked out this mini-moto in police colours as part of an publicity event.

Warwickshire police also had a loan of this scooter that has been adorned with blue and yellow reflective stickers.

This is a Sussex Police Triumph Daytona 675. Unlike many police superbikes, this one is not just a PR machine used at bike shows and so on, this one is fully operational. While it clearly doesn’t have panniers this is not a problem as the bike works in the city of Brighton & Hove and support is always nearby. The lack of on board radio equipment is no longer an issue either with the arrival or personal airwave radios. The R1 has been decked out in yellow base colour with blue chequers over the top and was spotted at a vehicle evaluation day at Goodwood race circuit.

Here is a 52-reg Ford Focus that is being used by Devon & Cornwall Police.

FJ51 NNB and FP53 DXR are a Citroen Dispatch and a Ford Focus that are in service with Nottinghamshire Police.

Y351 YBC Nottinghamshire also run this Mercedes Sprinter van as a mobile CCTV vehicle.

YJ06 TXX This is a black Yamaha R1 which carries small ‘police’ markings, including the North Yorkshire force crest on the wind deflector. It is not fitted with blue lights and is on loan to the force for rider education purposes as part of the ‘bike wise’ scheme.

NK06 MKA Cleveland police have this Buell Ulysses. It is fitted with blue flashing lights on the handlebars and another one is attached to the rear. It is decked out in the usual battenburg markings. An unusual feature of this make of motorbike is that there is a belt driving the rear wheels rather than a metal chain.

LX54 CUC This silver Met Police Range Rover V8 is fitted with a special type of bull-bar to push cars. It can be used to move cars damaged in a crash or to smash through a hostile road block when escorting VIPs.

LV03 TMU City of Westminster Council operate this mobile camera van in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police. The Ford Transit in a bright yellow colour has a small camera sticking out of the roof.

This battenburg-marked motorbike is used by the City of London Police.

This Metropolitan Police BMW motorbike is being used by an armed police officer to escort a VIP. A number of such motorbikes can ride out ahead of the main convoy and quickly stop traffic at junctions. The officers also have whistles to help attract attention when directing traffic.

HV52 XEY is an armed response Volvo V70 T5 is the traditional colour scheme for Hampshire police vehicles.

LF06 KXT This silver BMW 5 Series Touring diesel is a demonstrator police vehicle. It has a full width clear LED light bar that is attached to the roof rails and is complemented by the small repeater blue LEDs on the grille. Notice that the roof marking reads ‘BMW’ instead of a real identifier code.

NK03 PNU Here is a Durham Constabulary Mercedes E320 which has stopped to help a damaged car on the A1. The row of red lights scroll to the right to show motorists which way to pass. From in front no lights can be seen illuminated.

YJ55 TNU This Citroen Dispatch is a Crime Scene Investigation Unit with North Yorkshire Police. It carries the same livery and blue lights as a normal patrol vehicles.

Hampshire police use this white Ford Transit for carrying police officers. It has very minimal livery and two blue rotating beacons on the roof.

This scene shows a police Mercedes Benz in the ‘fend-off’ position on a three-lane carriageway. It is positioned so that vehicle in the distance can see the blue lights and the vivid livery. In the distance you can see the reason for the lane closures; a fire.

LJ55 EOL The Metropolitan Police in London have for the second time borrowed a yellow Lamborghini Gallardo and made it into a police car for the day. The first one was an 04-registration but looked identical to this.



The rear view of the Lambo. It was used to attract people at the start of the Gumball Rally so police could chat to them about a mutual topic.

YJ53 EKT This North Yorkshire Police Volvo V70 T5 is used for road policing duties. It is one of a small number to be fitted with a roof-mounted infrared light (see inset). This is used in conjunction with a rear-facing ANPR camera that can read vehicles’ registration plates far better than a regular camera. The Pips Technology infrared camera can read plates in heavy rain, fog, sunlight glare and headlight glare. IR is invisible to the human eye and is reflected by number plates in the same way that visible light is.

BF05 LZK This Land Rover Discovery 3 is a demonstrator that is fitted with a super-low-profile light bar on the roof.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland use this semi rigid boat to patrol Lough Erne in County Fermanagh. It is based at the Enniskillen PSNI Station.

AJ53 VJA South Wales Police (Heddlu De Cymru) operate this silver Ford Focus C-Max. It is used for general patrol work in the Cardiff area.



The rear view of the Ford.

CN03 AUR This Peugeot Partner 800 LX van is another South Wales vehicle. It has a minimal livery with bilingual wording on the bonnet, a single row of battenburg down each side and a small double blue light.



The rear view of the same Peugeot which is used by traffic wardens.

CN05 MXF This sporty grey Ford Mondeo is used by Gwent Police. It has full battenburg markings up the sides, but has a very subtle livery when viewed from the front. The ‘police’ wording is difficult to see at a distance and the blue led light bar on the roof has clear lenses.



The usual red and yellow chevrons have been applied to the rear of the Mondeo. The ‘police’ wording has been broken up slightly by the four parking sensors in the bumper. Also notice the large alloy wheels and low profile tyres.

CE52 ULJ Another South Wales vehicle is this Mercedes Benz C class. It has ‘heddlu’ and ‘police’ in large letters across the bonnet.

CN03 FLX is a BMW X5 again with Gwent Police (Heddlu Gwent). It has battenburg markings over silver paintwork and is used for motorway patrol work.



The rear view of the BMW showing the bilingual wording and crimestoppers advert.

YJ05 ACY is a police Mercedes Vito 115 CDI. It is liveried a s a ‘police support’ vehicle and this North Yorkshire Police long-wheel base example does not have any emergency warning equipment fitted. It is used for non-urgent transportation of items, such as mail.

GX04 LCZ This is a silver Mercedes E320 CDI belonging to Sussex police. It has a six cylinder turbo diesel engine and is decked out in full battenburg markings. It is parked in front of a Vauxhall Movano ANPR van which has free-standing cameras looking down on to the traffic below.

This is a side-on shot showing the approved livery for police motorway use on a Volvo S60.

X752 NWR This photograph shows a Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 AWD in North Yorkshire police livery. This is actually a model by Trofeu of a real-life vehicle.



Here is the same Impreza alongside it’s real-life counterpart. You can see there has been great attention to detail.

EU55 RZV and EU55 JZF Here are a pair of Essex Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIIIs. These super-quick rally-bred cars are assigned to the automatic number plate recognition (anpr) intercept team. Unusually they have this written on the front and back of the cars. They both have low profile blue led light bars with additional repeater lights front and rear.



A close look at the rear of one of the ANPR Evos.EU55 RZV and EU55 JZF Here are a pair of Essex Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIIIs. These super-quick rally-bred cars are assigned to the automatic number plate recognition (anpr) intercept team. Unusually they have this written on the front and back of the cars. They both have low profile blue led light bars with additional repeater lights front and rear.

YE54 KVL This BMW Mini One was given to Tayside Police in February 2005. It is used by the Crime Reduction Team for non-urgent police work such as security surveys and giving presentations (hence no blue lights). It is sponsored by ‘Sidney Glazing’ and has their company logos on the sides, above the wording ‘supporting crime reduction in Tayside’. It has an unusual livery with the battenburg markings flowing over the bonnet.

LV52 VOC and LV02 SYT Two Metropolitan Police community support officers (pcso’s) are seen here riding silver Vespa scooters through the capital.

Three of GMP’s vehicles in their workshops. In the foreground is a Vauxhall Astra Van in the older ‘stripe’ livery. On the jacks in the background are a ‘battenburg’ Mercedes M class and a Volvo.

FX04 KYZ This Ford Transit is used by Lincolnshire Police as part of the local road safety partnership.



A distant view of the same Transit shows that the rear windows can open up to reveal a safety (speed) camera.

Here are three Surrey police vehicles at the Clacket Lane services on the M25. The car is a Vauxhall Vectra estate 3.2 GSi with motorway specification battenburg markings. The two LGVs are Iveco Ford based mobile custody suites. Usually sent to different locations, in this instance they are deployed back to back with both rear doors open and a short gangplank connecting each unit. These vans have full prisoner handling facilities with cells, toilets, interview room and equipment to fingerprint and photograph prisoners. On the roof of each is a satellite dish giving communications and data handling abilities.

YK05 EEU This is a North Yorkshire Police Iveco personnel transporter. It is the long wheel base version and has a slide-down riot shield to cover the windscreen. It also has a host of other modifications for riot-type situations. This includes strengthened glass and under floor protection.



The rear view of the personnel carrier. The rear portion is for equipment storage and the rest of the van can accommodate about ten officers seated.

V307 DCB This Ford Transit is used by Greater Manchester Police and a PSU carrier.

YY52 MXF This Ford Transit is operated by Humberside Police. It is not fitted with any emergency warning equipment, but has the same livery as the other Humberside blue-light vehicles.

LJ04 LUW is a Metropolitan Police yellow Lamborghini Gallardo. This £117,000, 492 bhp, 192 mph supercar has the common blue and yellow battenburg markings down the sides and a blue lightbar on the roof. Unfortunately this Lambo is not operational! It was loaned to the Met for one day (Sunday 4 September 2005) for the traffic police stand at London’s Regent Street festival.

A Humberside police Nissan X-trail.

V658 NUM is a West Yorkshire Mercedes Sprinter. It is a command unit with a miniature office inside and a telescopic communications mast on the rear. The van has four small blue lights and notice how the registration plate has been adjusted to be seen behind the mast.