YOU recently reported that a York PCSO has to walk for six hours of his eight-hour shift, between his base and patrol area.

There was some incredulous public reaction to the news that he cannot cycle this distance until he has passed a police cycling proficiency training course.

Some readers believe that this training resembles public “Bikeability” courses. Nothing is further from the truth. Police cycle training involves far more skills, such as perfecting low-speed handling, riding up and down stairs, and using a bike to pinion offenders until back-up arrives.

There are a number of accredited police cycle training companies in the UK. North Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner will hopefully ensure that there is an adequate budget to cover our local police needs.

There’s also an International Police Mountain Bike Association, which offers networking and conferencing. Checkout their social media sites for a flavour of what pedal-powered police have to learn.

Paul Hepworth, Windmill Rise, York.