Motorists travelling along a minor road near York were confronted with a sight that was as atypical as it was disturbing: armed police.

In another context, this would be a normal scene. Law enforcers openly carrying automatic weapons are, sadly, part of everyday life on the Continent, in the United States and, of course, in Northern Ireland.

But this was not Madrid, New York or Belfast. This was rural North Yorkshire. No wonder motorists were shocked.

It is an unfortunate fact of modern life that British police forces must arm some of their officers in readiness to deal with the most serious incidents.

Clearly, those officers need to be trained to the highest degree. But this was not the best place to carry out such training.

The B1222 between Stillington and Naburn is a winding minor road. Outside of rush hour it is quiet; the most the motorist expects to come across is another car.

To turn a corner and be flagged down by officers wearing full body armour and carrying guns is undoubtedly alarming.

We can be thankful that, to our knowledge, the drivers involved suffered no more than a sudden leap in their heart-rate.

But it might have been a different story if an elderly man or woman had been at the wheel. Or if a motorist had panicked and lost control of his vehicle. And a family outing could easily have been soured by what, to children especially, would be a scary sight.

The police officers will not have wished to appear threatening.

But they could hardly come across in any other way in the circumstances.

It must be possible to carry out such training without involving the public at all. A private area of land could be secured and the exercises carried out well out of harm's way. That is, after all, what the Army does.

We owe a particular debt to police who opt for firearms training.

They are volunteering to become involved in some of the most dangerous situations an officer can face.

But we are rightly proud that we have maintained an unarmed police force in Britain.

In contrast to citizens in much of the rest of the world, we do not expect to come face-to-face with a police officer carrying a gun. And it should stay that way.

see NEWS 'Armed police shock motorists'

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