More than £700,000 worth of vehicles belonging to Yorkshire's police forces written off last year, figures show

Data available from three of the region's four police forces through their Freedom of Information disclosure logs shows £706,454.15 of their vehicles were damaged beyond economic repair in 2019.

For one force, the sum was £385,000.

Police vehicles can be damaged as a result of crashes, as well attacks of vandalism from members of the public. In September last year, a crime scene investigation van was set on fire in Leeds while officers attended a scene following reports of criminal damage. Officers were also attacked by a group of youths throwing bricks.

West Yorkshire Police had 50 of its vehicle fleet written off in the financial year 2019/20, with their combined pre-accident value standing at £295,137.

Among these was a BMW X5, which was the most expensive vehicle to be written off.

Of the 50 marked and unmarked vehicles written off, 23 were already due for replacement. This means 27 police vehicles of the 50 written off needed to be replaced when they otherwise would not have needed to, amounting to a bill of £385,000.

Humberside Police meanwhile saw £253,965.46 worth of vehicles written off in 2019, based on the vehicles' original costs.

It also accrued £219,698.67 worth of repairs for police vehicles which sustained damage from less serious collisions, as well as dents and scrapes.

Some 506 vehicles belonging to the force were damaged or written off in 2019.

No data is currently available for South Yorkshire Police, which is the region's second-biggest police force.

North Yorkshire Police, which had three vehicles written off last year costing £67,488.69, said it was "inevitable" that vehicles would sustain damage due to the risks involved in the job.

A spokesman for the force said: "As many people will be aware from watching popular TV documentaries such as Traffic Cops, policing on the roads can be a dynamic and high-risk profession which requires advanced driving skills to tactically bring offending vehicles to a safe stop.

"It is inevitable that some damage is caused to our operational vehicles as part of this work, especially when suspects are determined to evade capture. Wherever we can, we always try to recover costs from the other parties' insurance to minimise the burden on the taxpayer."

The most expensive vehicle belonging to the force which was written off cost £32,799.

The spokesman added: "Thankfully the number of vehicles which end up beyond repair is low and this is testament to our highly-trained drivers, given that they police more than 6,000 miles of road across North Yorkshire with criminals travelling into our area from seven bordering counties."

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said that there were occasionally circumstances where damage was inevitably incurred while carrying out duties to protect the public, which would always be its highest priority.

He said: “We have officers specially trained to use their vehicles to stop other vehicles safely, using tactics approved by the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

“Every contact with another vehicle in these circumstances is reviewed to make sure that the officer involved has used these tactics appropriately. Our pursuit vehicles are also fitted with cameras so collisions which occur during a pursuit can be scrutinised afterwards.

“The cost of replacing police vehicles also includes damage caused by police officers and PCSOs in the course of their duties, which do not involve pursuits.”

A Humberside Police spokeswoman said: "Our vehicles are used on the front line of policing and on occasion are involved in collisions. Thankfully most are minor however to make sure they are maintained to the highest possible standards we must ensure they are repaired quickly to get them back on the road to serve our communities.

"Established in 2015, we have an in house Emergency Service Fleet Management unit which maintains and repairs not only our police vehicles but those of Humberside Fire and Rescue to the highest standards. The unit works well, saving money and increasing the availability of police vehicles, improving efficiency and performance."

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