Lincolnshire police officers have been receiving extra lessons in high-speed car chases - by playing a video game.

PlayStation has partnered up with Lincolnshire Police in order to provide extra tuition to specialist drivers using Gran Turismo Sport.

The project - which aims to boost skill and safety - has seen officers clock an initial lap time at Silverstone race course in Towcester.

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PlayStation has partnered up with Lincolnshire Police in order to provide extra tuition to specialist drivers using Gran Turismo Sport. The officers used virtual reality technology and special racing seats (pictured)

WHAT DID THEY DO? PlayStation has partnered up with Lincolnshire Police in order to provide extra tuition to specialist drivers using Gran Turismo Sport. The project - which aims to boost skill and safety - has seen officers clock an initial lap time at Silverstone race course in Towcester. The four drivers then received specialist training using the game, including a new virtual reality mode. Any areas for improvement such as under or oversteer, braking late and carrying too much speed in corners were identified, with GT Sport used to demonstrate correct techniques. The officers then went out on a second lap and demonstrated markedly improved results - with one shaving 5.7 seconds of their initial lap time. Advertisement

The four drivers then received specialist training using the game, including a new virtual reality mode.

Any areas for improvement such as under or oversteer, braking late and carrying too much speed in corners were identified, with GT Sport used to demonstrate correct techniques.

The officers then went out on a second lap and demonstrated markedly improved results - with one shaving 5.7 seconds of their initial lap time.

Between them, the four officers improved their times by 14 seconds after being taught using the video game, which hits the stores on Wednesday.

Assistant Chief Constable Shaun West, from Lincolnshire Police, said: 'There will never be a replacement for traditional training methods but we are always looking for innovative ways to supplement the learning of our officers and staff.

'If Gran Turismo can help to train world class racing drivers, then we were keen to explore whether it could offer anything to our officers and help expand the way we think about evolving and refreshing our training methods.

The project - which aims to boost skill and safety - has seen officers clock an initial lap time at Silverstone race course in Towcester

The four drivers then received specialist training using the game, including a new virtual reality mode. The officers were joined by experts from the GT Academy, Gran Turismo's real life driving school that transforms gamers into race car drivers

'It's important to emphasise that exploring other methods such as this is not in any way seeking to substitute the rigorous training we already have in place but is simply another way to potentially bolster those existing programmes that our officers undertake.'

Officers said they wanted to ensure their practices were as up-to-date and innovative as possible.

Their F4tal 4 campaign focuses on the four main causes of injury and death on the roads - drink/drug driving, speeding, mobile phones and seatbelts.

'Anyone who chooses not to comply with the standards outlined in Fatal4, and is therefore putting themselves and other members of the public at risk, must do so within the realms of a game like GT Sport or on a racetrack like Silverstone', said ACC West.

Officers said they wanted to ensure their practices were as up-to-date and innovative as possible. Pictured is an officer using the virtual reality headset

Any areas for improvement such as under or oversteer, braking late and carrying too much speed in corners were identified, with GT Sport used to demonstrate correct techniques

Between them, the four officers improved their times by 14 seconds after being taught using the video game, which hits the stores on Wednesday

ACC West said the team were keen to progress on immersive learning. He said the skills learned during the session would help them offer a better service to the people of Lincolnshire

'We don't want that kind of driving on Lincolnshire's roads.'

ACC West said the team were keen to progress on immersive learning.

'What more could we do to ensure our officers are trained to the highest standards while also accommodating the needs of a workforce that works varied hours, in a number of locations, and has different needs and expectations of respective roles?' said ACC West.

He said the skills learned during the session would help them offer a better service to the people of Lincolnshire.

'For all of these reasons, not to mention the fact that this also offered us a chance to do something different, we were really pleased to work with PlayStation on this experience and found the results of this really interesting', said ACC West.

'It's something we will certainly take away and think about and see if we can use any elements of it in the future to add on to our established training methods.'

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire police told MailOnline to the best of their knowledge they are the only force doing this and it is a one off event.

If Gran Turismo can help to train world class racing drivers, then we were keen to explore whether it could offer anything to our officers, ACC West said

It's important to emphasise that exploring other methods such as this is not in any way seeking to substitute the rigorous training we already have in place, ACC West said

The team said they were pleased to work with PlayStation and found the results of the day interesting. The officers who did the course were specialist high-speed drivers

The officers then went out on a second lap around the course after training and demonstrated markedly improved results - with one shaving 5.7 seconds of their initial lap time



