NORTH Yorkshire police has acquired 20 new Ford police cars on contract hire from Ford Contract Motoring - the first such contract of its kind.

The 15 Escorts, two Mondeos, two Mavericks and an Escort Cosworth are on full maintenance contract hire for three years. The deal marks a major shift in traditional police fleet buying policy as it is the first completed deal of its kind for Ford Contract Motoring, which now claims to be finalising similar packages with a number of other police forces.