ESSEX Police launched their first full police car simulator at an event in Purfleet recently.

The simulator, a converted Essex Police Interceptor Prodrive Subaru Impreza GB270, was unveiled at the Pure Carma legal cruise and drifting event in the town on August 21.

The car, which was involved in a police incident and deemed un-repairable for future operational use, features video footage of actual police high speed chases and will be used to train officers .

Chief Insp Paul Moor said: “The simulator is a completely new concept.

“What we’ve done is taken a written-off police car and made it into a life-like simulator that will be of great benefit to the force.”

Mr Moor added:“It’s very hard to recreate a police pursuit safely on the public roads.

“By putting officers into a simulator with real police pursuit videos playing, we can put them in a very realistic situation that puts them under stress, allowing us to judge how they perform under pressure, while teaching them how to do vital pursuit commentary”.

The simulator was funded by the Essex Road Safety Partnership and will also be used at public events, such as the Pure Carma cruise event, which was held to educate young drivers, who are traditionally hard to reach.

Thurrock Council Road Safety Manager, Denise Langham said: “Events like this are imperative to engage with 17-25 year olds who usually have the most accidents. “Organised cruising events really bring it home to the young drivers that they are safer showing off on the track than they are on the roads.”

Mr Moor added: “If we save one persons life by educating people on the dangers of driving carelessly, then the simulator has done its job.”