HE’S the battery-powered crime-buster!

And the cycling crime-fighter is using a new invention to get around the hills of the Denby Dale area.

Police community support officer Richard Hobson is trying out a new bike designed to make cycling easier.

An electric motor drives one wheel, while normal pedal power moves the other.

Richard said: “It makes a massive difference going uphill; it takes a lot less effort. I used to have to push my bike up the hill from Kirkburton police station to the garden centre, but now I can cycle up there.”

The 53-year-old’s beat includes Denby Dale, Kirkburton, Scissett, Skelmanthorpe, Emley, Birdsedge, High Flats, Upper and Lower Cumberworth and Upper Denby.

Richard said: “It’s quite a hilly area and my kit is heavy, so the battery is a great help.”

The bike has a 2ft-long battery attached.

Police have already tested it at Leeds-Bradford Airport, but the hills around Denby Dale have proved more of a challenge.

Richard said: “I do a 10-hour shift, but the battery tends to last only about three-and-a-half because the hills drain it very quickly.

“Then it becomes just a normal bike, with a heavy battery attached.

“But if we can get the battery issue sorted the bike would be a great help.”

Richard, who is chairman of Denby Dale Cricket Club, has been a police community support officer for four years.

He has had the Denby Dale beat for the last 12 months, covering it by bike, on foot and on the bus.

Police support officer gets electric help