Yahoo News Police force unveil new crime-fighting vehicles - 3 wheeled tuk-tuks
A Welsh police force has announced it will be using a fleet of tuk-tuks to fight crime.
Gwent Police has chosen the unusual transport vehicles for officers to use on "day and night" patrols in Newport and Abergavenny.
The three-wheeled tuk-tuks will be used to patrol parks, walkways and other public spaces.
It is unknown how fast the vehicles go, but often tuk-tuks don't travel above 25mph.
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Chief inspector Damian Sowrey said: "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.
"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."
Tuk-tuks are often used as taxis in Asian and African countries.
The open-framed cars are an efficient, cheap way to navigate streets and bypass traffic, but frequent accidents have also provoked calls for bans.
Last year, Egypt's finance ministry said it would ban imports of spare tuk-tuk parts - a first step to push millions of drivers to use minivans that run on natural gas instead.
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Tuk-tuks first hit the streets of Egypt about 16 years ago, totalling some 6 million by 2015, according to figures from N Gage Consulting.
The Gwent Police tuk-tuks are funded by the Safer Streets programme, a Home Office grant fund which supports forces in tackling neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls.
The funding can be used for a variety of interventions, including security improvements, increased street lighting, additional CCTV cameras, covert tactics to prevent neighbourhood crime and diversionary measures to prevent ASB.
