A FEW year's ago any police force using a Skoda to catch criminals would have come in for some serious leg-pulling.

But since Skoda was take over by Volkswagen, the former by-word for Eastern European motoring mediocrity is now producing some top of the range vehicles.

Sgt Jon Hunter of Thirsk police realised the potential for sponsorship with Skoda, as a company looking for exposure, so approached the firm in a bid to gain the loan of a badly needed extra vehicle for the force.

"I came to Thirsk in July and saw that we needed another car, but couldn't afford to buy one. I realised that if we were to get the loan of a vehicle, we would have to approach a company which needed the exposure," he said.

"I realised Skoda needed that and I approached them at the same time as they were looking to get into the police market, so they offered us the loan of an Octavia 110 TDI for six months."

As for the car's performance Sgt Hunter says it is more than fast enough for police duties.

"The build quality of the car is very good and the performance is more than adequate for our needs and it's economical, we get 40 or so miles to the gallon."

Sgt Hunter confessed he has always had an interest in Skoda and knew that police forces in Eastern European countries had used the cars for a long time.

However, the car loaned to him was plain white when it arrived and because it has to be returned to Skoda, Sgt Hunter has had to make sure there will be no evidence of police stripes or lights when they send it back