North Wales Police's new 'welfare van' to boost morale

A new van in the North Wales Police fleet will help support officers while they are out dealing with incidents.

The force is the first in Wales to take delivery of a specially converted "welfare van", funded by the North Wales Police Federation, which will provide shelter, hot drinks and toilet facilities for officers as they work out in the field.

Mark Jones, General Secretary of NWPF, said it would make a huge difference to morale.

"I've been there myself, three o'clock in the morning, you're stood there on the side of a road when you are very sadly dealing with a very serious road traffic collision. And we are human beings...police officers are not robots."

Bangor-based Sergeant Arwel Hughes said it would help officers do their jobs better and faster.

"More often than not we are in rural places, isolated places... we can be expected to stay out in these places for hours on end and often there's no facilities there, nowhere to record statements or have a conversation."