Two police officers responding to an emergency call from a colleague grabbed the fastest form of transport that they could find: two pedal-powered rickshaws.

As they sat in the back urging their riders to go faster, they encouraged pedestrians and other vehicles to move out of their way by yelling, “Nee-naw, nee-naw, nee-naw” at the tops of their voices.

Their unorthodox but speedy arrival meant that WPCs Ann Marie Rosier and Sue Beament were in time to help to subdue an offender who was resisting arrest.

The WPCs were patrolling in Hereford when they received a radio call saying that another officer was in difficulty in Castle Green Park, which runs alongside the river in the city centre.

The pair flagged down a passing rickshaw and its rider, Ben Matthews, who started to pedal them to the scene. The three-wheeled vehicle, known as a pedicab, reached speeds of 10mph, spurred on by the sound of sirens from the back seat. Another rickshaw rider saw them and joined in the chase.

The two officers arrived on the scene and helped to arrest a man for breaching bail and assaulting a police officer.

PC Rosier said: “Our colleagues were some distance away and in need of urgent assistance, but we couldn’t get there by car. We knew it would take too long to run and, when we arrived, we probably would not have been in the best condition to help out our colleagues.

“So, when the pedicabs turned up, we used our initiative and hopped on board.”

Mr Matthews was joined by his fellow pedicabbie Will Vaughan, who did a U-turn when he saw his colleague “rid-ing like the clappers” towards the park. PC Beament added: “It was great timing on their part. Will and Ben did a fantastic job to get us there so quickly. They really got into the spirit of it and were ringing their bells to warn people we were coming.

“I even tried making a siren noise myself, but the bells were more effective.”

Mr Matthews and Mr Vaughan, who set up the pedicab venture this summer, enjoyed their brief taste of crime fighting. Mr Vaughan added: “I rounded the corner at full speed with a motorbike sidecar lean so as not to tip the bike. Soon Ben and I were closing the gap on the bad guys. The next few minutes were a blur of fluorescent jackets, sweaty riders and panicking criminals, but we got our man.

“It was unbelievable. We’re fairly new to crime fighting but like to imagine ourselves as cowboys riding down the bad guys.”

A spokesman for West Mercia police said: “Both PC Rosier and PC Beament have already passed on their thanks to Will and Ben for their public-spirited efforts and Herefordshire Division will also be handing over a generous tip for the impromptu ride.”

Cycle rickshaws have become a familiar sight in many English cities in recent years. They are popular as an environmentally-friendly, relatively cheap form of transport.

But, in many cities in the sub-continent and the Far East, where the concept originated, they have been the subject of bans, blamed for traffic congestion and perpetuating a third-world image.

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