List of defunct law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom

Due to various Parliamentary Acts the numbers of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom has varied drastically since the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 set up the first modern police force in London.

Law enforcement
in the United Kingdom
Topics
Equipment
Types of agency
Types of agent
Concepts
Acts
Statutory instruments

There are currently over 60 law enforcement agencies operating in the United Kingdom. See List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom for these.

For former (non-police) law enforcement agencies, see Category:Defunct law enforcement agencies of the United Kingdom.

England and Wales police forces

Abolished before 1889

The County Police Act 1840 allowed for borough police forces to voluntarily amalgamate with county constabularies.

Abolished under the Local Government Act 1888

The Act, which came into force in 1889 passed control of county constabularies to standing joint committees of county councillors and magistrates, and merged smaller borough police forces (where the town had a population of less than 10,000) with the county police.

  • Basingstoke Borough Police (1889, to Hampshire)
  • Bideford Borough Police (1889, to Devon)
  • Buckingham Borough Police (1889 to Buckinghamshire)
  • Deal Borough Police (1889, to Kent)
  • Falmouth Borough Police (1889, to Cornwall)
  • Faversham Borough Police (1889, to Kent)
  • Helston Borough Police (1889, to Cornwall)
  • Hertford Borough Police (1889, to Hertfordshire)
  • Hythe Borough Police (1889, to Kent)
  • Maidenhead Borough Police (1889, to Berkshire)
  • Newport Borough Police (1890, to Isle of Wight)
  • Penryn Borough Police (1889, to Cornwall)
  • Sandwich Borough Police (1889, to Kent)
  • Stratford-upon-Avon Borough Police (1889, to Warwickshire)
  • St Ives Borough Police (1889, to Cornwall)
  • Tenterden Borough Police (1889, to Kent)

Abolished 1890–1942

Abolished under the Defence (Amalgamation of Police Forces) Regulations 1942

NB – Some were re-constituted after the war but then abolished in 1946.

Abolished under the Police Act 1946
Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Police hat badge, in the collection of the Staffordshire County Museum and displayed at the Shire Hall, Stafford
Non-county borough forces
County borough forces
County forces

Abolished under the Police Act 1964
Borough forces
County/combined forces
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Abolished by the Local Government Act 1972

All territorial police forces in England and Wales (except the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police) were abolished and reconstituted at midnight on 31 March 1974/1 April 1974. This list shows the ones that existed then and their fate (ignoring minor transfers).

Irish police forces

The partition of Ireland under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and the subsequent independence of the Irish Free State in 1922 led to the replacement of the Royal Irish Constabulary with the Garda Síochána (in the Free State, later Éire or Republic of Ireland) and by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (in Northern Ireland). Defunct police forces in Ireland:

Scottish police forces

Each police burgh had a police force originally, although many merged in the 19th century. The gradual process of amalgamation culminated with the creation of a single Police Service of Scotland in 2013.

Abolished 1930

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 merged two pairs of county constabularies.

  • Kinross-shire County Constabulary to Perthshire and Kinross-shire Constabulary
  • Morayshire County Constabulary to Moray and Nairn Constabulary
  • Nairnshire Constabulary to Moray and Nairn Constabulary
  • Perthshire County Constabulary to Perthshire and Kinross-shire Constabulary
Abolished 1931–1946
  • Lerwick Burgh Police 29 May 1940 to Zetland Constabulary
  • Zetland County Police 29 May 1940 to Zetland Constabulary
Abolished under the Police (Scotland) Act 1946
  • Aberdeenshire Constabulary 16 May 1949 to Scottish North Eastern Counties Constabulary
  • Banffshire Constabulary 16 May 1949 to Scottish North Eastern Counties Constabulary
  • Berwickshire Constabulary to Berwick, Roxburgh and Selkirk Constabulary
  • Bute County Constabulary to Renfrew and Bute Constabulary
  • Clackmannanshire Constabulary 1949 to Strling and Clackmannan Constabulary
  • Dumfriesshire County Police 16 February 1948 to Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
  • Dunfermline City Police 16 May 1949 to Fife Constabulary
  • East Lothian Constabulary to Lothians and Peeblesshire Constabulary
  • Fife County Constabulary 16 May 1949 to Fife Constabulary
  • Kincardineshire Constabulary 16 May 1949 to Scottish North Eastern Counties Constabulary
  • Kirkcaldy Burgh Police 16 May 1949 to Fife Constabulary
  • Midlothian Constabulary to Lothians and Peeblesshire Constabulary
  • Moray and Nairn Constabulary 16 May 1949 to Scottish North Eastern Counties Constabulary
  • Peeblesshire Constabulary to Lothians and Peeblesshire Constabulary
  • Renfrewshire Constabulary to Renfrew and Bute Constabulary
  • Roxburghshire Constabulary to Berwick, Roxburgh and Selkirk Constabulary
  • Selkirkshire constabulary to Berwick, Roxburgh and Selkirk Constabulary
  • Stewartry of Kirkcudbright Police 16 February 1948 to Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
  • Stirlingshire Constabulary 1949 to Strling and Clackmannan Constabulary
  • West Lothian Constabulary to Lothians and Peeblesshire Constabulary
  • Wigtownshire County Police 16 February 1948 to Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
Abolished 1950s
  • Dumbarton Burgh Police 1959 to Dunbartonshire Constabulary
  • Dunbarton County Constabulary 1959 to Dunbartonshire Constabulary
Abolished 1960s
  • Caithness Constabulary 1969 to Northern Constabulary
  • Coatbridge Burgh Police 1967 merged into Lanarkshire Constabulary
  • Greenock Burgh Police to Renfrew and Bute Constabulary
  • Inverness Burgh Police 16 November 1969 to Inverness Constabulary
  • Inverness-shire County Constabulary 16 November 1969 to Inverness Constabulary
  • Kilmarnock Burgh Police to Ayrshire Constabulary
  • Orkney Constabulary 1969 to Northern Constabulary
  • Perth City Police 1964 to Perth and Kinross Constabulary
  • Perthshire and Kinross-shire Constabulary 1964 to Perth and Kinross Constabulary
  • Ross and Cromarty Constabulary 1963 to Ross and Sutherland Constabulary
  • Sutherland Constabulary 1963 to Ross and Sutherland Constabulary
  • Zetland Constabulary 1969 to Northern Constabulary
Abolished 1975

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 created new police forces based on the new regions and island areas from 16 May 1975.

Abolished 2013

An Act of the Scottish Parliament, the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, created a single Police Service of Scotland – better known as Police Scotland – and a single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service with effect from 1 April 2013. (The functions of the British Transport Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Ministry of Defence Police within Scotland were not affected).

Railway police forces

From the archives of the British Transport Police:

Docks and port police forces
  • Aberdeen Harbour Police
  • Barry Docks Police (1884–1922)
  • Boston Docks Police 1922 – 1963
  • Bute Dock Police (1865–1922, merged with Great Western Railway Police)
  • Commercial Docks Police (1810–1865, became part of Surrey Commercial Docks Police)
  • Glasgow Marine Police (part of City of Glasgow Police)
  • Dover Harbour Board Police - now renamed the Port of Dover Police
  • Gloucester Dock Police (26 February 1836 – 25 November 1874, became part of Sharpness Dock Police)
  • Gloucester and Berkley Docks Police (1827–1948)
  • Greenock Harbour Police (1817 – ?, became part of Greenock Burgh Police)
  • Grimsby Docks Police
  • Hull Docks Police (1840–1893, became part of North Eastern Railway Police)
  • Isle of Man Harbour Police
  • Jersey Harbour Police
  • Kingstown Harbour Police (1836–1924, became part of Dun Laoghaire Harbour Police)
  • Larne Harbour Police (1877–2014)[1]
  • London and India Docks Police
  • Londonderry Harbour Police (1858–?)
  • Manchester Ship Canal Police (1893–1993)
  • Newport Harbour Police
  • Port of London Authority Police (1909–28 February 1992, became Port of Tilbury Police)
  • Southampton Harbour Board Police (1847–1980)
  • Swansea Harbour Trust Police (?–1923, merged with Great Western Railway Police)
  • Tyne Improvement Commission Docks and Piers Police (?–1949)

Canal/river police forces
  • Aberdare Canal Police (c.1846)
  • Aire and Calder Navigation Police (1840–1948)
  • Birmingham Canal Navigation Police (pre 1917 – 1948)
  • Bristol River Police
  • Gloucester Dock Police (1836–1874)
  • Grand Junction Canal Police
  • Grand Surrey Canal Police (1809 – 1855, became Grand Surrey Docks & Canal Police)
  • Grand Surrey Docks & Canal Police (1855 – 1865, became part of Surrey Commercial Docks Police)
  • Grand Union Canal Company Police (1929–1948)
  • Lee Conservancy Police (1871–1948)
  • Leeds and Liverpool Canal Police (1840 – ?)
  • Manchester Ship Canal Police (1893–1993)
  • Regents Canal and Dock Police (c.1840 – 1929)
  • River Clyde Police (1858 – 1866, merged into City of Glasgow Police to become the Marine Division)
  • River Tyne Police
  • Sharpness Dock Police (1874–1948)
  • Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Police (1895 – ?)

Airport police forces
Main article: Airport policing in the United Kingdom

Other police forces

Churches

Departmental constabularies

Merged to form the Admiralty Constabulary in 1949.

Merged to form the Ministry of Defence Police in 1974.

Markets

Miscellaneous

National

London

Non-London

Non-police law enforcement agencies

References
  1. "British Police History". british-police-history.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  2. Ltd., Maxima Systems. "Isle of Man Guide – Aviation security officers sworn in". www.iomguide.com. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
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