Parks policewoman Jan Cacchione used to find her beat a daunting prospect. Now she's saddled with the perfect solution.

Power-assisted bicycles mean Holland Park's police officers need never run out of puff. The battery-run Powabyke will enable the council-employed officers to speed up their patrols, and reduce pollution.

Environmental health and leisure committee chairman Cllr Bryan Levitt said: "The bike is an alternative to ordinary vehicles which will allow parks police to reach areas of the park which larger vehicles can't access. It will be easy to navigate in congested areas."

The bike is capable of going 20 miles with one ; battery charge, and it boasts a top speed of 15mph. Enough, police hope, to put a spoke in, any wrongdoer's wheel.