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Mountain bike lessons for rookie police

24/09/2007

Rookie police in Greater Manchester have been told they cannot ride bicycles on duty in case they fall off and hurt themselves.

It means that police and police community support officers (PCSOs) can no longer carry out patrols on their mountain bikes for the next two months or more.

The decision follows a recent accident in Wigan in which PCSO Christopher Maclure was hit by a truck while he was on a bike.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said: "We decided to review the nature of assessing officers who patrol on bikes.

"Officers and PCSOs who've been cycling for less than 12 months will not be able to patrol on bikes until a full review has taken place and they've been reassessed."

Those who have been using mountain bikes for more than a year will receive additional training.

The decision to ban mountain bikes pending further training comes after the GMP confirmed that a PCSO is under no obligation to save a drowning person.