Documenting UK emergency vehicles past and present

RO04 EYM This Durham Honda Fireblade is fitted with…



RO04 EYM This Durham Honda Fireblade is fitted with a number of blue flashing lights in the form of small LED clusters. It is normally supported by a Honda ST1100 police bike when out on duty.



The rear view of this rare police bike. Notice the amount of open space there is at the rear compared to a traditional touring motorbike. Also striking is the twin exhaust pipes that emerge from below the seat. The blue flashing light is mounted immediately above the rear red light.

P601 WUM A very unusual form of police transport…



P601 WUM A very unusual form of police transport: a Suzuki motorbike and sidecar. The blue three-wheeled combination is liveried in yellow checkers and carries ‘police’ signage but not blue lights. This vehicle is for advertising and is not operational.

F827 OJR The iconic Norton Commander. Carrying Durham Constabulary…



F827 OJR The iconic Norton Commander. Carrying Durham Constabulary livery, this preserved motorbike has the blue flashing and white lights mounted behind the glass that forms the windscreen.



The rear view of the Norton. This style of bike was popular with police forces throughout the UK in the 1980s and early 90s. Notice the illuminable ‘stop’ sign and the rear light clusters that are mounted into the panniers.

Both of Northumbria Police’s Polaris jetskis. Decked out…



Both of Northumbria Police’s Polaris jetskis. Decked out in battenburg livery, these personal watercraft (PWC), more commonly called jetskis, are very manoeuvrable and have 1200cc engines that can take the rider (and two passengers) up to 60mph. They follow from the success of a trial in 1993.

NK54 NAU The rear view of a similar S60…



NK54 NAU The rear view of a similar S60. Notice the variable message matrix sign in the centre of the lightbar. For example, it can alternate between moving chevrons “> > > >” then “TURN RIGHT” to direct traffic.

YW52 LKK This Volvo V70 is used for patrolling…



YW52 LKK This Volvo V70 is used for patrolling by traffic police officers. Notice that Humberside police have not adopted the battenburg paint scheme (along with a handful of other forces, including Durham)



The rear view of the Volvo. It has a LPG conversion, which is inkeeping with Humberside’s mission of running only LPG or diesel vehicles. It may also be one of the last Volvos as Humberside considers moving to an all-Proton fleet.

AO02 OHY is a Norfolk Ford Galaxy people carrier…



AO02 OHY is a Norfolk Ford Galaxy people carrier. Its livery is very different to the above cars. It carries full battenburg markings, blue repeater lights on the front grille and the force website address at the foot of the door sills. Also notice the directional white spot lamp of the roof.



The rear view. The Galaxy has heavily tinted glass on the rear window and rearmost side windows.

Y283 WVV This North Yorkshire Police Vauxhall Astra gets…



Y283 WVV This North Yorkshire Police Vauxhall Astra gets a special award for one of the worst liveries on a UK emergency vehicle. It is a one-off sponsored vehicle which is used for non-urgent work. On the rear of the vehicle is an advert for a carpet company, with the tag line “Pulling the rug on crime”!

YJ04 CEF An overhead look at a NYP collision…



YJ04 CEF An overhead look at a NYP collision investigation Mercedes van. It does not have any roof markings, and only a double rotating blue light on the roof. Blue strobes are also drilled into the reverse light and headlight clusters.

H467 STH is a preserved Rover 827. This car…



H467 STH is a preserved Rover 827. This car is powered by a 2.7 litre Honda V6 engine driving the front wheels.



The rear view. This model of Rover saw service with many police forces throughout the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

R364 KFL is a Ford Explorer four wheel drive…



R364 KFL is a Ford Explorer four wheel drive used by Wiltshire Constabulary. This vehicle carries a rather faded version of the force’s old livery. It is equipped with a large telescopic pole which comes out of the roof to provide lighting at an incident.W

Here we have a Ford Focus estate designed…



Here we have a Ford Focus estate designed to be used for the carrying of police dogs. Notice how on this demonstrator vehicle the side windows are silvered out in the rear of the car to hide the dog cages. It also has a roof mounted air vent for the dogs.

This Ford Transit Connect is also a police…



This Ford Transit Connect is also a police dog unit demonstrator. It is unusually fitted with only one blue rotating bacon on the roof. It has access to the dog caged from either the rear doors or the side sliding doors.

We start this section with an extremely quick…



We start this section with an extremely quick Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. This car has a 2 litre turbocharged engine producing 261 BHP. This enable the car to reach 60 MPH from a standing start in 5.1 seconds.



The front view of this menacing machine. Few vehicles can keep up with this four wheel drive rally car. It has a top speed of over 150 MPH.



The rear view. Be warned, this vehicle has been fully approved by the Home Office for police use.

BF53 WKG is a specially modified Honda motorbike. Wearing…



BF53 WKG is a specially modified Honda motorbike. Wearing a minimal police livery, it is designed to be used as a mobile speed camera unit. Notice the speed camera logo on the wind deflector.



From this view you can see the camera assembly on the rear top box of the bike. It folds neatly away into the box when it is not in use.

Next we have a 2004 Peugeot 407. This…



Next we have a 2004 Peugeot 407. This car is unusual in having a dark blue paint scheme, like the Mercedes above. This all helps to increase the re-sale value of the car once it has finished its life in the police.



The rear view of this 407 operated by West Midlands Police.

We now have a Peugeot 307, a standard…



We now have a Peugeot 307, a standard panda car used by Durham Constabulary.



The car carries minimal Police markings and has only one small blue light bar on the roof. There are no repeaters elsewhere on the car.