The police van with 200,000 miles on its clock

Police in Yorkshire are responding to 999 calls in a van that has more than 200,000 miles on the clock.

North Yorkshire Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell promised the vehicle would be scrapped after admitting at a meeting of North Yorkshire Police Federation, he was amazed it was still being used by officers based at Malton police station.

Concerns about the van’s condition have been raised by rank-and-file officers, who fear deep budget cuts and falling staff numbers are putting their safety at risk.

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Federation chairman Mark Botham said plans to cut police spending by 20 per cent over four years showed the coalition Government was taking a “chaotic, foolish and aggressive” approach.

He said officer numbers in North Yorkshire had fallen by 225 in the last four years, from 1,654 to 1,429, while the county’s population had grown.

The force’s own forecasts indicate the number will have reduced to 1,294 officers by 2015 – the lowest since 1977.

Resources in York were so depleted in August that, on three occasions, some police had to be taken off the streets because of a shortage of detention officers to work at the cells.

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Mr Botham said: “We know that demand across the board for police services in North Yorkshire has increased since the 1970s.

“We also know that reductions in officer numbers will impact on our ability to perform all the roles of the police, including the prevention and detection of crime.

“In the past nine months we have seen officers suffer injuries including a broken jaw, a fractured eye socket, fractured thumb and a broken arm.

“Would these officers have been victims of crime if we were properly resourced?”

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Mr Botham also criticised the force’s “despised” shift system, introduced in March to save money, which gives officers fewer rest days.

The federation, which represents rank and file officers, will next week publish a report demanding changes to the system, which it believes has led to an increase in officer sickness.

Members have voiced their support for working 12-hour shifts, a pattern which was introduced as an emergency measure during the riots in August.

Mr Maxwell revealed that the riots had cost the force £1.3m as officers were deployed in other areas of the country and shifts were cancelled at short notice.

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“We did work a 12-hour shift,” he said. “Whether it is sustainable to work a 12-hour shift, I think that is debatable but it is a debate I am prepared to have.”

The force’s resources are likely to be stretched again next summer when officers will be deployed in London during the Olympics.

The chief constable said more officers would undergo training to prepare for the operation, and planning would be needed for when the Olympic torch relay passes through York.

In relation to the van in Malton, he said: “I am actually amazed because we spent so much money on modernising the fleet. I genuinely thought that any vehicle with over 200,000 miles would be where it should be – and this one will be – on the scrapheap.

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“We have not stinted in making sure that we have the right fleet.”

Mr Maxwell will leave North Yorkshire next summer after the force’s governing authority decided not to renew his contract.

He admitted gross misconduct in May over claims he unfairly helped a relative during an officer recruitment exercise.

He thanked officers for their support during a “difficult year” and sought to assure them that North Yorkshire was the most financially stable force in the country.

“It might seem tough for us,” Mr Maxwell said, “but in other places it is a lot, lot tougher.”