Unless you were looking for it, you could easily drive past Buntingford Police Station. It’s an anonymous looking building which, until the 1970s was a police house, home to the local community officer. However, within the walls of this converted 3-bed semi is where the long-term serving sergeant, Duncan Wallace, first hatched his plan two-years ago to use ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles) within his rural East Hertfordshire beat.

The correlation between ATVs and fleet cars, especially police vehicles, may, at best, seem tenuous. Nonetheless, they are gradually being adopted – and not just by the police – by those who can see the many virtues they have to offer. To begin with, their initial purchase price can be a fraction of what a 4×4 would cost. Also, because they are basically a four-wheel drive motorbike, they need a lot less maintenance too.

There are two distinct types of ATVs; single-rider use and the increasingly popular side-x-side, which can seat up to six and is a lot more flexible in its application.

Phillip Crabtree of ATV World, Yorkshire, one of the UKs largest specialist dealers explains further: ‘This year, we have seen an increase of over 24% in sales of side-x-sides. This can be attributed to the fact they deliver the same go anywhere ability as a more conventional ATV, but because they have weather protection and a generous payload area, and the price difference can be as little as £1500, our customers can instantly see the benefits.’

Although the market does offer less expensive Chinese imports, Crabtree would recommend buying an ATV from a more established manufacturer. ‘The 200cc Polaris Phoenix is a good starting point,’ he tells me, ‘For £3,800+VAT it is a good entry-level machine, although it is possible to spend upwards of £12,000 for something more powerful.’ There is a caveat to the pricing though; if it’s destined for road-use, it will need an SVA (Single Vehicle Approval), and this will cost an additional £1000 on top of the original purchase price.

Once it does have an SVA it can be used by anyone with a full driving licence (obviously, there’s no restrictions on private land), but training is highly recommended, as is a crash helmet and safety gear. As for driving it, in most cases it’s just a matter of choosing either the high or low gearing, and then, thereafter, it’s as simple to drive as an automatic car.

Anyway, back to Duncan Wallace and his story. ‘Rising commodity prices and the relative ease of access meant farms have always been seen as rich and easy pickings,’ explains Wallace. With 22 years of service under his belt, and an inherent love of the countryside (his family have worked the land for generations), he sought approval from his superiors to approach Honda, the ATV market leaders, to help find a solution to combat crimes in more rural areas. Honda agreed to pilot a scheme where they would sponsor an ATV.

Now, two years on, and with the ATV proving itself on countless other occasions, the East Herts Police force had little compunction in recently adding a further three ATVs to their fleet. ‘The ATV gives us a much wider visual presence, which has always proved to be one of the best deterrents the police have in their armoury,’ says Wallace. ‘Plus, with budgetary constraints being put upon us, the ATV also makes a huge amount of fiscal sense. On average, it costs the force £870 per month to keep one of our 4x4s on the road, while the ATV is working out at just £109. And, because it is much lighter, with a smaller footprint than a more conventional off-roader, it causes a lot less crop damage.’

The ATV has been successful in other areas of policing too. It was deployed during the Olympics, to patrol the perimeter fencing of the Lea Valley White Water Centre and, on another occasion, when an ambulance crew struggled to reach an injured patient its towing trailer was converted into a makeshift stretcher, which negated the need to scramble the air ambulance.

But it’s not just the emergency services that can see that ATVs are more than merely agriculture machines. Marks and Spencer use the diesel-powered Polaris Rangers in their dispatch centres, while energy companies are exploiting the ATVs’ off-roading capabilities for crucial maintenance work in extreme places where it would normally need a 4×4 to reach or, in some cases, a helicopter. And because they are so versatile, local councils have also bought into the idea of ATVs, adapting them into low-cost mini snowploughs and salt spreaders.

The main downside to any ATV is that they don’t offer the same degree of passenger safety as a more straightforward 4×4.

However, this needn’t, or shouldn’t, become a deal-breaker. With specialised training and when used in the correct manner, given that many will hardly ever venture for too long onto the main highway, an ATV still remains a very credible consideration for the canny fleet buyer.