More than 200 Northamptonshire Police vehicles damaged in 10 months of 2021 - 11 written off

More than 200 Northamptonshire Police vehicles were damaged in just over 10 months of 2021 and 11 were written off, data reveals.

Information obtained by an FOI request submitted by this newspaper to the force last year shows 222 police vehicles were damaged in 2021 up to November 10.

Of those, 103 of these were damaged in road traffic collisions - although this figure includes “minor scuffs” - and 11 were damaged beyond repair.

In comparison, from information published under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, in 2019 Essex Police’s vehicles were involved in road collisions 713 times with damage costing a total of - including the value of written off vehicles - £485,017.54.

In Northamptonshire, 13 of the 2021 incidents were classified as damaged deliberately by a member of the public.

Four of these incidents led to a charge, one resulted in an adult caution and another ended with a community resolution.

The total cost for all of the damage amounted to £104,971, however more was paid out in compensation.

In the time period stated, four compensation claims were paid to members of the public who were injured in a collision involving a Northamptonshire Police vehicle. The total compensation paid amounted to £15,455.33.

For comparison, in information published under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, neighbouring force, Leicestershire Police paid out on 10 claims for compensation from members of the public in the 2019/2020 financial year. The total cost amounted to £38,619.22.

A representative from Northamptonshire Police said of the data: “The numerical data presented in this response is an unaudited snapshot of unpublished data sourced from ‘live’ systems.

“The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of the relevance of data to the request.”

They also said the collation of figures for “ad hoc requests” may have “limitations”.

Just days outside of this data period, on November 18, 2021, two police officers had a “miracle escape” after a collision involving a lorry on the A45 that left their vehicle completely smashed up.

Both officers were, thankfully, fine and just “battered and bruised”.