£500,000 damage caused to police cars

In total three police forces in Wales had to stump up £3.5 million over four years due to cars damaged by crashes and driver error.

From April 2013 to April 2017, more than 4,200 incidents saw vehicles damaged by officers, animals and criminals.

The highest number, 500, were damaged by reversing, while 108 were damaged by animals, and 29 needed fixing after problems with the weather.

In Dyfed-Powys, 45 cars were damaged when officers hit either animals or birds, and 60 collided with a bollard or a post, with damaged to 91 caused by a 'third party'.

The value of the damage was given as £500,000.

South Wales Police racked up a bill of £2.6 million for damaged cars, with 27 vehicles left written off.

North Wales Police had the lowest bill of £400,000, after 1,339 incidents saw vehicles damaged, including one in April 2016 when officers used a police car to run over and kill a dog on the loose on the A55.

Among the statistics, data showed blue lights were knocked off, windscreens cracked and cell doors broken.

James Price, campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said the police should have a "long hard look at the way they treat their cars".

He said: "The police are constantly asking for more money, but clearly they have been wasting our cash by driving recklessly and not respecting the equipment that taxpayers have funded."

A Dyfed-Powys Police spokesperson said that each year the force reviews changes and lessons that can be learned.

A spokesman said: "Each incident is reviewed to identify if there are any lessons to be learned and where necessary proportionate action is taken in cases where an officer or police staff member has been responsible for causing the damage."

In South Wales, assistant chief constable Jeremy Vaughan said the force had travelled about 12 million miles over the time frame.

Huw Jones of North Wales Police's fleet management said half of the vehicles involved in incidents with animals only needed safety checks and had no damage.