An Austin A70 with its regular crew PC Eric Hill and PC Ron Lister in the Keighley area.
WEST RIDING POLICE VEHICLES
The first West Riding Police vehicles were a Crossley motor car used by the Chief Constable, and a Morris Cowley owned by the Assistance Chief Constable. In July 1913 a constable was appointed to be the "Chief's"
chauffer.
During the 1920's. the Force purchased 20 motorcycle combinations and these were used for delivering correspondence between Headquarters and Divisions. By the late 1920's the speed of vehicles, especially motor coaches on the Great North Road, was becoming a problem, so 2 Hillman 9 h.p. open two
seater motor cars were purchased in 1928, and 4 constables appointed to be their drivers. Working in civilian clothes, they were to enforce the 20 m.p.h. overall speed limit, from Boroughbridge to Bawtry, by timing
vehicles over known distances against a stopwatch. Speeds of 50 m.p.h. being quite common and it then became a problem to safely overtake and stop the offending vehicle.
In late 1930 the Government recommended, to all police forces, that they should establish regular "road patrols", using motorcycles or motor cars. The West Riding Police therefore purchased 3 Jowett 7 h.p. cars; 4 Alvis
12 h.p. cars; 25 Matchless motorcycle combinations; and 1 Matchless solo motorcycle. Each Police Division had its own patrol vehicles, which patrolled from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, but it soon became apparent that confining patrols to Divisional boundaries was not practical.
More vehicles continued to be added, such as Ford Model 7Y; Ford Model BF; and Hillman Minx, and by 1936 the Transport Branch had grown considerably, so that a maintenance garage was established at
Headquarters in Wakefield. As more vehicles were added, including 6 M.G. Model VA, open two seaters,
it was decided, for reasons of administration, supervision and economy, it would be better to have all vehicles in one Division, so the Road Traffic Division was established in 1938, with 184 personnel, 67 cars and 5 vans. About this same time Morse Code radio receivers were installed
in most patrol cars. World War Two saw a considerable reduction in the number of vehicles and personnel. The principal vehicle in use at this time being the Austin 16, but when Auxiliary Police Women joined the Division, Hillman Minx saloons were added.
After the War the police had to take whatever vehicles were available, the same as everyone else, these included Austin 16; Humber Snipe; Jaguar 1½ litre; Standard 14; Vauxhall 14; and 10 Wolseley 18/85's. By the 1950's new models were becoming available, including Austin A70 Hampshire; Ford V8 Pilot; Ford Zephyr Mark I; Morris Isis; Standard Vanguard; Vauxhall Velox (L type); and Jaguar Mark VII. In 1952 V.H.F.
radio was introduced, but because of the nature of the terrain, reception could be patchy.
As vehicle availability improved the West Riding Police used more and more Ford Zephyr 6 (Marks I, II, III and VI), as well as Austin Westminsters. It was during this period (early 1960's) that blue lamps were added to the police sign on the roof of cars. In the mid 1960's the Force experimented, at the suggestion of the Home Office, with patrol cars painted black and white, and by the end of the decade all white cars, for road patrol, was becoming the norm. Since the end of World War Two the Force had mechanised many rural beats by putting the policeman in a small car, Morris 8 Series E, or Ford Popular. In the early 1960's this was further extended by the use of Velocette LE motorcycles, and later many of these vehicles were replaced by Austin / Morris Mini vans, painted dark blue in colour. In 1967, with the introduction of "Panda cars", the West Riding utilised these existing
vehicles by having the front doors painted white. |
Trams, Trains
