UK Police Blasted For Splashing £70,000 On Four Patrol Tricycles – Each Cost As Much As New Ford Fiesta

UK Police blasted for splashing nearly £70,000 on four patrol tricycles that will be used to fight and prevent crime. 

The tricycles will be used to patrol parks, walkways and other public spaces across Newport and Abergavenny.

But a freedom of information request reveals their total costs as £67,896, with each tricycle costing £16,974.

This means each of the police patrol tricycles costs as much as a new car Ford Fiesta or Nissan Micra.

Gwent Police has been blasted for splashing nearly £70,000 of public cash on four tuk-tuks three-wheeled vehicles that it said will be used to patrol parks, walkways and public spaces across Newport and Abergavenny.

The force said that the four three-wheeled vehicles, known here as Keke Marwa, will be used to provide crime prevention advice, adding that majority of the feedback they had received had been “overwhelmingly positive”.

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Chief Inspector Damian Sowrey said :

“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive with parents telling officers that they would feel safer knowing that there was support for young people out at night, and from women who could think of an occasion when the tuk-tuk would have been a welcome sight.”

The Force added that :

“Our tuk-tuks will be used both during the day and night, driven by our officers and ‘ambassadors’ such as those employed by Newport NOW as part of a Newport City Council initiative.”

Asked about the cost, a force spokesperson said :

“The tuk-tuks were funded via the Home Office’s Safer Streets scheme, where we secured additional funding to help tackle specific issues within our communities.”

But a freedom of information request has revealed their total costs as £67,896, with each tricycle finished in bright blue and yellow colour costing £16,974 or as much as a new Ford Fiesta or Nissan Micra.

• See Also : Tricycle ‘Keke’ Crammed With 27 Passengers Seized After Police Chase