Police authority refuses to back helicopter plea
South Yorkshire Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes failed to convince his force’s governing authority to join the National Police Air Service (NPAS) yesterday after he admitted the “flawed” scheme would see the county’s helicopter cover reduced from “gold-plus standard to acceptable”.
Plans for the new NPAS show South Yorkshire would lose its dedicated helicopter from 2013 and have to rely on aircraft based elsewhere, although its Sheffield base would still be used occasionally.
Mr Hughes said the force would lose out financially if it failed to sign up, but South Yorkshire Police Authority deferred its decision for two weeks.