West Yorkshire Police were all revved up for the official launch of their first speed camera motorcycle in Bradford.

The force say the state-of-the-art bike equipped with a tripod, laser gun and video camera will be "another life-saving machine" on the district's roads.

The 1,300cc Honda motorcycle will join a fleet of four Ford Galaxys in monitoring 85 crash black spots' in West Yorkshire.

The bike's width will allow police to mount speed camera operations on narrower stretches of road where a Galaxy would obstruct the highway.

The motorcycle is clearly marked so it can act as a warning to drivers on roads where there has been a high number of deaths or serious injuries.

Chief Inspector Christopher Moorehouse-Everett said: "On some narrow roads, it's not possible to park up the Galaxys, but this bike will be able to slip in quite nicely because it's only a third of the width and much shorter.

"We can now be more flexible in our deployment and it means more lives will be saved."

The launch was held at West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership's headquarters.

Philip Gwynne, of the partnership, said: "We had a couple of comments from motorists saying that our Galaxys were causing an obstruction if they were parked on a narrow road.

"We had a think and decided they had got a point. Now we have added the bike to the fleet, which takes up virtually no room."

l Meanwhile, the Government has given the green light to the latest batch of fixed and mobile cameras in West Yorkshire.

There will be four fixed cameras on part of the A647 Highgate Road, at Clayton Heights, between Baldwin Lane and Copper Lane. Eight people have been killed or seriously injured in collisions there since 2003.

The other new mobile camera locations are: A657 Leeds Road, Thackley; A65 Ilkley Road, Burley-in-Wharfedale; Cutler Heights Lane, Bradford; Dick Lane, Bradford; A629 Halifax Road, Cullingworth; A629 Keighley Road, Cullingworth; A6037/A650 Bradford (from Queens Road bridge to North Street); A6177 Rooley Lane, Bradford; A644 Brighouse and Denholme Road, Keelham; and B6144 Toller Lane, Bradford.

e-mail: will.kilner@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

BIKE FACTS
  • The bike is the first Honda ST 1300 to be fitted with speed camera equipment.
  • Max speed of 140mph but speed governed to 70mph.
  • Pan-European Police Specification, specially manufactured for police requirements.
  • V4 engine with fuel injection system.
  • Twin exhaust pipes.
  • Equipped with sirens and lights.
  • Officers will use a tripod-mounted LTI 20.20 Ultralyte camera in conjunction with laser speed measurement devices and Lastec video system.