§ Mr. Bennasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what administrative or legal changes have been introduced to re-classify water cannon vehicles used by the police so that they are no longer listed as heavy goods vehicles by the area traffic commissioners; and whether it remains possible to know how many such vehicles are in use by the police.
§ Mr. MayhewThree water cannon vehicles are in the hands of the Metropolitan Police for evaluation. The view they took was that, in common with fire appliances and similar local authority vehicles, they should be registered as heavy motor cars; and their registration in that category was accepted. However, we understand that there is room for the view that they might be classified as heavy goods vehicles. This possibility is being examined.