Electric scooter will reduce police force`s carbon footprint

Police have launched a bid to reduce their carbon footprint with the introduction of an electric scooter to their fleet.

The Vectrix scooter just needs to be plugged in to charge and will be used by officers to control traffic around Glasgow Airport.

Strathclyde Police are the first in the UK to purchase such a scooter.

The machine has no carbon emissions, making it environmentally-friendly, and reaches speeds of up to 62mph.

Inspector Colin Pearson, chief of Glasgow Airport Police Unit, said: “The Vectrix electric scooter has no emissions whatsoever and works by plugging into a 13amp plug. We have two other motor scooters just now which are both petrol driven but they are coming to end of their life. We felt that to go for the green option would be the proper thing to do.”

Sergeant Kenny Brown is one of a team of officers who have been trained to ride the Vectrix, which only needs an hour to charge up to full power.

He said: “They have been trialled elsewhere and we have trialled them here at the airport but I believe we`re the first to purchase the machine and put it into operational use.

“It`s very smooth, the acculturation is very quick and it`s a low down weight so it`s quite manoeuvrable and stable.

“Instead of going to a petrol station you just plug it into a socket, and an hour`s charge will do a full shift of running about the airport, so it`s ideal for our use and very quiet and very clean.”

The machine will mainly be used to enforce parking measures at the airport, which were put in place following last year`s terror attack.