Vauxhall has officially opened its police car factory, which it says is the largest of its kind in Europe, at its manufacturing plant in Luton, Bedfordshire.

The factory will convert 2,500 vehicles per year, including cars and vans, for use by Police forces, and Fire and Ambulance services nationwide.

Bringing 50 new jobs to Luton, the new facility has been created after moving production in-house from its previous location in Millbrook, Bedfordshire.

The  company says supplier firms around the country also benefit with 90 per cent of blue-light content, the materials used to convert a standard car in to a Police car, sourced from UK suppliers. Local firms include Border Engineering in Luton who make brackets and AV Engineering in Royston who make fascia mouldings.

An array of Vauxhalls will be converted for use by the emergency services at the Luton facility with cars including Corsa, Astra, Insignia and Mokka, and CVs, such as Combo, Movano and the Luton-built Vivaro vans.

Vauxhall claims to be the only manufacturer to offer a one-stop shop for blue-light vehicles. Everything is done in-house from testing to converting and, eventually, remarketing of decommissioned vehicles.

“Through our flexible production facility, Vauxhall is able to offer a one-stop shop purchasing experience to UK emergency services,” said Dick Ellam, Vauxhall’s Manager, Special Vehicles.

“We can deliver a wide choice of car and van models, specifically designed and rigorously-tested to meet the stringent demands of our emergency services. We can also supply turn-key vehicle solutions that enable rapid turnaround of replacement vehicles, plus we can now offer a unique in-house de-commissioning and re-marketing service.”

Vauxhall says it is the number one supplier to Police fleets with a 70 per cent market share of competitive segments.