Pedal-powered police car tackles crime...slowly - PHOTO

Designer PC Keith Waller admits his mean machine is unlikely to catch many crooks – other than ‘those with Zimmer frames’. But he insists the five-gear, 20mph (32kph) go-kart has helped drive down anti-social behaviour on his beat in Ringwood, Hampshire.

PC Waller recruited teenagers to help him build the £1,000 Z Car, which will race in the British Pedal Car Grand Prix in Ringwood on July 11.

‘Getting youngsters involved gives them something to focus on at lunch and after school so they are not out there committing anti-social behaviour,’ said PC Waller.

‘I have been able to reach out to the students and make the police more approachable. It makes me look cooler, we all have fun and the children can come and talk to me.’

Cooler? Well, maybe. ‘People have made comparisons between me and Mr Plod from Noddy but I take it all in good spirits,’ said PC Waller. ‘It’s just a bit of a laugh.’

The battery-assisted car features full Hampshire Constabulary livery, a siren and a roll bar to protect the driver in the – fairly unlikely – event of a crash. The pedal car grand prix is a two-hour endurance race around a track.

‘I’m looking forward to it but do not expect to win – I’m no Lewis Hamilton,’ said PC Waller.

After that? ‘We don’t plan to use the car on patrol... it wouldn’t be especially effective at catching criminals.’


/Metro.co.uk/

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