Video: Police stage Olympic arrest at vintage Yorkshire railway station

THEY are police officers in need of a head for heights.

Over the last two days officers from British Transport Police have been scaling some of Yorkshire’s most iconic landmarks to prepare for a new role that will see them tackle rooftop protesters and carry out searches of high buildings in preparation for the London Olympics.

Officers say protesters are cunningly placing themselves in spots that are traditionally above the long arm of the law to make their point.

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A team of 10 British Transport Police (BTP) officers are based across the North trained with the skills to clamber on top of buildings or balance on a train roof and deal with these incidents safely. Part of their role will see them deployed to London for this summer’s Olympics.

Here they will need to be prepared for a number of scenarios that may occur such as a rooftop protests, or unfurling embarrassing banners or putting graffiti in prominent locations at a time when the country is under the world’s glare.

Over two days the team has been carrying out an exercise at York Minster and on board the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, preparing for scenarios they could face.

Police Trainer, PC Roy Brewer, said: “BTP previously only had a Policing at Heights team based in London.

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“Over the past few years, there have been a number of incidents in the north where the team have been required and were deployed from London, the most recent being the environmental protest at Drax power station. The team were required to safely remove a large number of protesters who had secured themselves on top of a freight train outside the station.

“Following the protest a north-based team has now been set up, and are currently training and gearing up towards assisting in policing of the Olympics and will be deployed to undertake a range of tasks where required including searching at heights, protester removal and flash advertising removal.”

The team in the north are part of a nationwide team set up to deal with the issue.

At York Minster, officers used the building for a lead climbing exercise - a technique used to ascend a route. While, yesterday, officers were at the Keighley and Worth Valley railway, at Oxenhope, near Haworth, to practice bringing protesters safely down from the roof of a train.

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In 2008 a group of environmental protesters ambushed a freight train as it took fuel to the largest coal-fired power station in Europe. They took part in a non-violent protest against climate change at the giant Drax power station, near Selby, North Yorkshire.

The protest lasted sixteen hours, causing delays to numerous freight and passenger services and the clean-up operation cost Network Rail nearly £37,000.

Chief Insp Ray Shields of BTP’s Policing at Heights team said yesterday officers were not only responsible for their own safety but that of protesters taking part in demonstrations.

“Its not just safety issues for officers but of course people who find themselves on tops of trains its their safety that we are responsible for.”

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He said training undertaken by officers needed to ensure they were prepared for a variety of scenarios.

Chief Insp Shields added: “We are just preparing ourselves for every eventuality.

“We will be training between now and the Olympics and of course afterwards.”

Chief Insp Shields said team members needed to have a head for heights, be physically fit and be able to work as part of a team.