(Image: Gwent Police)
Last Updated: 34 seconds ago
Four electric tuk-tuks bought by Gwent Police to patrol the streets of Newport and Abergavenny have been sold off for a fraction of what they cost – at a loss of £28,350.
The force purchased the three-wheelers in 2022, spending £34,300 from a Home Office Safer Streets fund. The vehicles were intended to give officers a visible presence in parks, walkways and public spaces, while also serving as safe spaces where members of the public could report crimes.
However, the tuk-tuks went out of service in June 2024 and were later sold for just £5,950 in total – a detail uncovered through a Freedom of Information request, as reported by BBC Wales.
A separate FOI response to BBC Wales previously put the total spend on the four vehicles at £39,744, or £9,936 each.
The auto-rickshaws, which typically reach a top speed of around 34mph, are a common sight as taxis across parts of Asia but proved a far less successful addition to policing in south-east Wales.
When the tuk-tuks were first unveiled, former Ch Insp Damian Sowrey said parents told officers “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”.
A Gwent Police spokesperson said: “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.”
The tuk-tuks were funded as part of a wider £673,181 Safer Streets package, with £638,881 of that going towards tackling violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour, burglary, theft and robbery. The money recouped from the vehicle sales was reinvested into Safer Streets projects with Home Office agreement.
A spokesperson for the Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner said the decision to sell the vehicles was taken by the force before the current PCC’s election in May 2024, adding that commissioners are not responsible for operational policing decisions.
