Metro Police Armoured Standard

History

Metro Police is one of the few British mainland forces to have operated purpose-armoured 4×4s. A small batch of Runner 110s registered on 2010 '10' plates — BV10 RYM, BV10 RYP and BV10 SDZ are the registrations that have been photographed — was taken into service and based at Manchester Airport, the busiest UK airport outside London and a standing counter-terrorism commitment for the force. The standard Runner body is replaced from the bulkhead back by a fabricated armoured pod with an armoured roof, small square vision ports rather than side windows, armoured door skins and a heavy front bar; the windscreen is armoured glass behind a hinged screen cover, and there is a full-length roof platform with grab hoops for officers working from the roof. Registration on a 2010 plate makes them 2.4-litre Puma-engined Runners. Catalogue notes describe the vehicle as an armoured public-order vehicle; the published photographic evidence instead ties it to armed policing and airport protection, and both roles are plausible for a vehicle of this specification. The armouring contractor, the exact number built and the vehicles' current disposal are not established by any source found — Metro Police has not published a fleet breakdown for them, and this record should be treated as documented by enthusiast photography rather than by the force itself.