Police in Abergavenny will have a new way of patrolling the town, after Gwent Police unveiled a new fleet of tuk-tuks providing additional support to residents.

The new form of transport will be used both during the day and night driven by police officers and ‘ambassadors’, such as those employed by Newport NOW as part of a Newport City Council initiative.

The tuk-tuks are funded from as part of the Home Office Safer Streets programme, a Home Office grant fund that supports police forces in tackling neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour (ASB) and violence against women and girls (VAWG).

As part of the new scheme, the force have rolled out the four tuk-tuk vehicles in Newport and Abergavenny which have been chosen as ‘safe spaces’, where those residing or visiting Gwent are now available to provide crime prevention advice, report incidents to and seek help from if feeling unsafe.

Safe Space is an accreditation scheme set up by Gwent Police to encourage local businesses, community centres and other premises to help those in need.

A Safe Space is a somewhere people in need of help and support can go, to be signposted to support agencies and emergency services.

Marlows Place café and florists Petal & Leaf in Neville Street and Monmouthshire Youth Workers based in the Cabin are designated safe spaces in Abergavenny.

The tuk-tuks will be used to patrol parks, walkways and other public spaces across Newport and Abergavenny.

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."

Abergavenny has already benefitted from ‘Safer Streets’ funding when Gwent Police last year received more than £673,000 from the Home Office to tackle violence against women and girls and increase the feeling of safety in public spaces.

The funding was used to implement a range of initiatives throughout the town including improvements to streetlighting, new CCTV cameras and a night-time ambassador scheme.