North West Motorway Police Group
Encyclopedia
The North West Motorway Police Group (NWMPG) provides a regionalised policing service for the Motorways within the Cheshire
, Lancashire
, Merseyside
and Greater Manchester police areas. It was established in June 2008 in partnership with the Highways Agency
.
Operating from six bases around the region, NWMPG is made up of over 130police officer
s and more than 30 support staff from the four forces. The group is responsible for patrolling a motorway network stretching from the borders with Cumbria
in the north to West Mercia and Staffordshire
to the south, as well as North Wales
to the west and West Yorkshire to the east.
It has been modelled on the successful Central Motorway Police Group
which started in 1990 when West Midlands Police
and West Mercia Constabulary
formed a partnership to provide a dedicated policing unit for the motorways surrounding Birmingham
. CMPG now includes Staffordshire Police
.
The 24-hour Regional Command and Control Centre, located at the Highways Agency Regional Control Motorway Centre at Newton-le-Willows
, will maintain contact with all police and Highways Agency staff deployed by their respective organisations across a total of more than 3000 square miles (7,770 km²).
Cheshire Constabulary
Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an area of with a population of roughly 1 million.The Chief Constable of the...
, Lancashire
Lancashire Constabulary
Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Lancashire in the North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, near the city of Preston...
, Merseyside
Merseyside Police
Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The force area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million...
and Greater Manchester police areas. It was established in June 2008 in partnership with the Highways Agency
Highways Agency
The Highways Agency is an executive agency, part of the Department for Transport in England. It has responsibility for managing the core road network in England...
.
Operating from six bases around the region, NWMPG is made up of over 130police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
s and more than 30 support staff from the four forces. The group is responsible for patrolling a motorway network stretching from the borders with Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
in the north to West Mercia and Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
to the south, as well as North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
to the west and West Yorkshire to the east.
It has been modelled on the successful Central Motorway Police Group
Central Motorway Police Group
The Central Motorway Police Group is a co-operative operation between three police forces in the West Midlands of England. Officers from the three forces involved - Staffordshire Police, West Mercia Police and West Midlands Police - provide a dedicated policing service on several hundred miles of...
which started in 1990 when West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.Covering an area with nearly 2.6 million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and also the Black Country; the force is made up...
and West Mercia Constabulary
West Mercia Constabulary
West Mercia Police, formerly known as West Mercia Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Shropshire , Herefordshire and Worcestershire in England. The force area covers making it the fourth largest police area in England and Wales...
formed a partnership to provide a dedicated policing unit for the motorways surrounding Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. CMPG now includes Staffordshire Police
Staffordshire Police
Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England...
.
The 24-hour Regional Command and Control Centre, located at the Highways Agency Regional Control Motorway Centre at Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows is a small market town within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is situated about midway between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, to the east of St Helens, to the north of Warrington and to the south of...
, will maintain contact with all police and Highways Agency staff deployed by their respective organisations across a total of more than 3000 square miles (7,770 km²).
Motorways covered
Officers from the NWMPG patrol all or part of the following motorways:- M6M6 motorwayThe M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...
- M53M53 motorwayThe M53 is a motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It can also be referred to as the Mid Wirral Motorway...
- M55M55 motorwayThe M55 is a motorway in Lancashire, England, which can also be referred to as the Preston Northern Bypass. It connects the seaside resort of Blackpool to the M6 at Preston. It is 11.4 miles in length.-Route:...
- M56M56 motorwayThe M56 Motorway, also known as the North Cheshire motorway, is in Cheshire and Greater Manchester, England. It runs from Junction 4 of the M60 to Dunkirk, Cheshire and is in length. It is often busy with long-distance commuter traffic towards North Wales...
- M57M57 motorwayThe M57 motorway, also known as the Liverpool Outer Ring Road, is a road in England. Designed as a bypass road for Liverpool, it is long and links various towns east of the city, as well as the M62 and M58 motorways.-Route:...
- M58M58 motorwayThe M58 is a motorway passing through Merseyside and Lancashire, terminating in Greater Manchester, England. It is 12 miles long and provides a link between the M6 motorway and the area north of Liverpool.-Route:...
- M61M61 motorwayThe M61 motorway is a motorway in North West England. It runs from the M60 motorway northwest of Manchester and heads northwest past Bolton and Chorley to join the M6 just north of the junction between the M6 and M65 motorways to the south of Preston....
- M62M62 motorwayThe M62 motorway is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds. The road also forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22...
- M65M65 motorwayThe M65 is a motorway in Lancashire, England. It runs from just south of Preston through the major junction of the M6 and M61 motorways, east past Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Nelson and ends at Colne.-History:...
- A601(M)A601(M) motorwayThe A601 is a motorway in Lancashire, England. It is 1.1 miles long, and meets the M6 at Junction 35. It is a unique motorway within the United Kingdom as it has a dual carriageway section leading north from Junction 35 of the M6, with a single carriageway section leading south, where it...
- M60
- M602