CELEBRATING Essex Police’s roads policing heritage and road safety at the UK Slot Car Festival
It may have been miniature cars racing around a track, but the message behind Essex Police’s presence at this year’s Slot Car Festival was anything but small.
Over the weekend of 9 and 10 May, at the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire – home to the world’s largest collection of historic British cars – two of our Roads Policing Unit officers, PCs Mike Jelley and Simon Bailey, brought road safety firmly into the spotlight.
The event marked the launch of a brand-new Scalextric model based on a former Essex Police Ford Sierra Sapphire area car: and visitors were able to see the real thing too. The original 1992 police vehicle, now privately owned by an Essex-based collector, was kindly loaned to
Essex Police for display, offering a nostalgic look back at policing heritage.
Alongside it sat a 2025 Ford Capri police-liveried demonstrator, provided by Ford UK, showcasing just how far vehicle technology has come over the past 30 years, a powerful reminder of how innovation continues to support safer roads.
This is the second Scalextric model based on a former police vehicle. In 2023, the model car company launched the Essex Police liveried RS200 model.
Essex Police’s interactive stand proved a real hit with visitors, sparking conversations about everything from policing history to the future of electric vehicles – with a fitting nod to the fact that Scalextric cars themselves are powered by electricity, and that Essex Police are working towards an electric generation of police fleet vehicles.
But while the display drew crowds, the focus remained clear: keeping people safe.
Officers spoke to families, car enthusiasts and visitors of all ages about Vision Zero, the ambition to eliminate death and serious injury on our roads, and the importance of tackling the Fatal 5 factors that contribute to the most serious collisions:
