Police force loses £30,000 on crime-fighting tuk tuks

A Welsh police force has lost £30,000 after receiving a “lower than anticipated” sales price for its crime-fighting three-wheeled vehicles.

Gwent Police originally purchased four tuk-tuks in October 2022 to patrol streets, parks and other public spaces in Newport and Abergavenny, as well as to act as “safe spaces” for the public to report incidents.

Following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by BBC Wales, Gwent Police revealed that the tuk-tuks had cost £9,936 each, £39,744 in total.

They added that the force’s vehicle budget for 2022 was £3,149,000, but that funding for the tuk-tuks “was provided through the Home Office’s Safer Streets funding which supports us to tackle specific safety and crime prevention issues within our community.”

The Safer Streets funding package for Gwent Police to tackle safety issues and undertake crime prevention, as well as increase the visibility of officers in public spaces, totalled £673,181.

The intention was for officers and some council employees in Newport to drive the tuk-tuks, which had been speed-limited to 35 mph, throughout the day and night.

At the time of their introduction to Gwent Police’s fleet of vehicles, Chief Inspector Damian Sowrey shared favourable feedback from members of the public.

He said: “[The tuk-tuks] were on show at our Behind the Badge day, giving local residents the opportunity to see them up close and to hear more about how they will be used.

“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive with parents telling officers that they would feel safer knowing that there was support for young people out at night, and from women who could think of an occasion when the tuk-tuk would have been a welcome sight.”

Mahindra Electric, the company that provided the tuk-tuks, added they were “proud to be a part of such a noble initiative.”

However, there was significant criticism online with residents suggesting the vehicles could be easily pushed over, stolen or set alight by criminals. One user said the tuk-tuks would turn the force into a “laughing stock”.

Sale

A further FOI request reported by the BBC but not yet shared via Gwent Police has since found that the tuk-tuks went out of service in June 2024, under two years after they were added to the force’s working fleet.

Additionally, the four tuk-tuks were sold for just £5,950 in total, marking a loss of £33,794 or approximately £8,448 per tuk-tuk.

A Gwent Police spokesperson told BBC Wales: “The intention behind the purchase of these vehicles was to boost public safety especially within the night-time economy settings of Abergavenny and Newport in an engaging and different way for our communities.

“While the eventual sale price was lower than anticipated, it was outside of our control as to how much money could be recouped from the sale of these vehicles which many people who have attempted to sell a vehicle which is no longer required will recognise.”

A Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner spokesperson affirmed that the decision to sell the tuk-tuks was made by the force before May 2024.

The total tuk-tuk takings were reinvested in Gwent Police’s Safer Streets projects, as agreed by the Home Office.

BBC Wales initially reported that the vehicles cost £39,744 in total, in line with figures released by Gwent Police. However, the most recent coverage cites a purchase cost of £34,300 and a loss of £28,350.