Gwent Police spend £40,000 on crime-fighting tuk-tuks

Gwent Police says community feedback on the tuk-tuks has been "overwhelmingly" positive.

A Welsh police force has spent nearly £40,000 on four tuk-tuks which it says will help them fight crime.

The three-wheelers, which are commonly used as taxis in Asia, will be driven by officers and council "ambassadors", according to Gwent Police.

It unveiled the initiative earlier this month and said they would patrol parks and other public areas in Newport and Abergavenny, day and night.

The force said they would provide "safe spaces" where people could seek help, report incidents or get crime prevention advice.

Each of the electric tuk-tuks cost £9,936, or £39,744 in total, according to a Freedom of Information request.

The cash came from the Home Office's Safer Streets programme.

However, the chances of seeing a tuk-tuk in a Hollywood-style chase around the streets of southeast Wales are slim as their top speed is limited to under 35mph.

Chief Inspector Damian Sowrey said public feedback had been good.

"They 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," he said.

"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."

But some people commenting online were not so complimentary, suggesting they would make the force a "laughing stock" and could even end up stolen, vandalised or set alight.