W218 ONP The wheels have come off this police car – literally! A W registration South Yorkshire Police Vauxhall Omega is on the ramps at the force workshops.

Also in a rare condition is this Honda ST1100 police motorcycle. The rear wheel has been removed for maintenance and the panniers lie in the foreground.

YR52 VCT A South Yorks Police 2002 Ford Mondeo in battenburg livery.



The rear view of the same car. Notice that it does not carry the force crest; only some small writing on the side indicates its county.

X840 AHE A South Yorks. Police Peugeot 306 panda car.

AK51 TFX is a Peugeot 607 police demonstrator.



The side view of this sleek Pug.

P446 JKY A Toyota Hi-Lux double-cab pick up truck belonging to South Yorkshire Police. This vehicle is fitted with yellow flashing lights as it is used for recovery work only.

A brand new SY Police Peugeot 307. This vehicle has had its livery added but is awaiting the fitting of blue lights to the roof and behind the front grille. It is yet to be registered.



The rear view, showing the livery and lack of registration plates.

YP52 DLJ An operational South Yorkshire Police Pug 307 on the streets of Sheffield city centre.

YN03 GMV is a South Yorks Police Peugeot Partner dog van.



The rear view. Notice the cage for the dogs, the vents in the roof and the repeater blue lights at the top of the rear doors. A Crimestoppers sticker is subtly placed on the rear window.

Y574 HHL A SYP Volvo V70 T5 traffic policing car.



A rear look at a comparable Volvo. This car is awaiting its roof callsign and internal comms to be added before it is registered.

N976 CET A SYP LDV personnel transporter, with riot grille and reinforced headlamps.



The rear view showing the high visibility livery which almost hides the word ‘police’. Also note the lack of blue lights on the roof – all of them are on the sides.

V585 HKU A single-cab Toyota pick-up in Sheffield. All of South Yorks maintenance (and similar) vehicles are liveried up to promote the corporate image and help prevent improper use. They are not fitted with blue lights or sirens.

Y492 HUA A West Yorkshire Police Volvo estate on a dual carriageway in Leeds. Notice how the registration plate has been moved to the bumper to facilitate the fixing of a variable message illuminating matrix sign.

DK51 NYU A Cheshire Police CCTV van, which also has an automated registration reading and checking camera on board.

Y712 HWY A North Yorkshire Police Volvo road-policing vehicle is positioned to warn traffic and protect the scene of a road traffic collision caused by driver error in thick fog.

S47 CUA A West Yorkshire Ford Transit video van with riot grille

W362 UAG A Humberside Police Volvo V70, slowly disappearing in the heavy snowfall. Covered in snow is the matrix sign located in the centre of the blue light bar. It illuminates ‘POLICE’ to the front under normal circumstances.

FY02 UYS A 2002 Rover police car from Lincolnshire Police.



The rear view of the same car. The dirty winter roads make the car look somewhat sorry for itself!

A Northumbria Police Landrover Freelander. Notice the battenburg stripe and website address on the side of the car.

YG52 FYP A Ford Transit used by North Yorkshire Police. It is interesting to note that this vehicle was built quite some time before it was registered. A revised shape Transit was introduced in March 2000.



The rear view. Notice the stops on the doors which both open 270 degrees to lie flat with the bodywork and the white lights that can illuminate the street at night.

M917 GJU A Ford Transit police van, with blue lights flashing, temporarily closing a road in York city centre.

X784 NWR A Volvo V70 T5 is blocking another stretch of road in York. The police officer is directing traffic away from a large gas leak.



The rear view of the same vehicle. The importance of keeping people away from the hotel where the leak is emanating is greater than normal due to firefighters being on strike (November 2002).

R162 ULX A Metropolitan Police Vauxhall Omega estate escorts a wide load of a boat to the Earl’s Court show.

V944 RDN and V948 RDN A North Yorkshire Police Volvo S70 T5 and V70 T5 are positioned for official photographs outside a stately home.



The rear view is just as impressive! These pictures were taken in 2000.

P39 PWY A West Yorkshire Police Landrover Defender. This vehicle has reinforced windows and grilles over the lights and windscreen.

YD52 RPO This is a 2002 dog patrol vehicle from WYP. It does not have blue lights fitted.

R125 BUA A WYP Mercedes Sprinter Command Unit, with retractable communications antenna.

YB02 AVF A WYP prisoner transportation Mercedes Sprinter van, complete with riot grille, reinforced headlamps and small, tinted windows.



A close up of the WYP livery on the side of the above vehicle.

W54 CWR A Ford Escort dog van. The vents in the rear window are to allow the dogs fresh air. The Ford Escort was replaced with the Focus in 1998, but no van version was available. A small number of the Escort vans were produced until 2003 when they were replaced by the similarly-sized Ford Transit Connect.

V366 FVU A North Yorkshire Police Collision Investigation Unit. The term ‘collision’ is used instead of ‘accident’ because most of the incidents they attend could have been prevented.



The rear view. The height of the vehicle means that blue lights on the roof would be difficult to see, so they are mounted on the bodywork. These Mercedes CIU’s were featured on the Channel 4 series ‘Crash’..

V337 DCB A Greater Manchester Police Range Rover.

X778 ANF A X registration Mercedes M-class from GMP. These two GMP photographs were kindly donated by Alex McKenzie.

Two two-wheeled units from North Yorkshire’s fleet. A Scott Boulder mountain bike in stopped alongside a Honda Pan European motorbike. The officers exchange conversation, with a 1,000-year-old tower in the background.

NA02 NYG We start with this Durham Constabulary LDV personnel carrier. It is fitted with a semi-covert white riot windscreen grille.

This Ford Scorpio 2.5TD is the primary skid pan training vehicle at Durham Constabulary’s headquarters. This 115bhp dark aubergine model has three police crests on it and carries the registration ‘SKIDPAN 1’. ‘SKIDPAN 2’ is a red Vauxhall Omega and ‘SKIDPAN 3’ is a green Ford Mondeo.

NV02 OPB This Smart car is so small that two can fit into one frame! This Smart is liveried up in Durham’s colours and carries a vector blue light bar but has no siren. It is being used for crime prevention work (Summer 2002) but will not become a permanent feature of the force.

Watch a video of this vehicle in action!

W169 PBB A Volvo V70 T5 armed response vehicle (ARV). An armed officer shows off the gun and bullet-proof material that he uses. Also note the hand gun in his holster.

X553 WBB A Mercedes M-class traffic policing vehicle from Durham Constabulary.

W322 PPT A Durham Constabulary Volvo V70 T5.

YC51 TYD Here we have a 2002 specification Ford Focus operated by North Yorkshire Police. You can just see the police crest in the rear quarter light of the car.

YJ51 EOE North York’s uses this LDV Convoy van for promotional events etc. However, the website address on the side of the vehicle is incorrect, as there is a dot missing before the word police! This is still to be rectified three years later.

YG02 EZR This is a 2002 Ford Ranger. It has a large load carrying capability and the rear hard top of the vehicle can be removed. Again, you can see the police crest in the rear side window.

YC51 OXN An identically livery 51-plate example. For easy loading, the rear glass panel will lift upwards and the tailgate folds down.

W742 DNW North Yorkshire Police also operate two of these Suzuki scrambler motorbikes for off road duties. The only marking the bike has is the word ‘POLICE’ above the headlight.



An officer begins his patrol wearing a large amount of protective clothing.



As you can see, the officer carries only a minimal amount of equipment with him. Although the bikes are road legal, they spend most of their time traveling off road along tracks or across fields.

V420 HEO This low specification Ford Mondeo is also used by North Yorks. Note that this vehicle carries the traditional force’s markings and not a battenburg livery.

FM02 JJE A Nottinghamshire Police Mercedes Sprinter van photographed in Leeds. It appears to have a roof mounted flood light for illuminated an accident scene or checkpoint.

A M-registration police Ford Transit arrives at a shop in York. Two cycling police officers were already in attendance dealing with a shoplifter. A BBC film crew are also present, filming the work of the police.

This lorry is being fitted out by Durham Constabulary. The side reads ‘Wear and Tees Durham Constabulary Community Safety’. It will probably acquire more livery (possibly including blue lights) and a September 2002 registration plate.

V89 DTY A Vauxhall Astra estate dedicated to the rural areas of County Durham.

R432 JTN A Durham Peugeot 306 1.9D panda car.



The rear view of an equivalent vehicle.