Design and Manufacture of Police Vehicle Security Cages for Babcock

The Challenge

Vehicle security cages must safely contain detained persons while fitting within vehicle bodies never designed to carry them. Each vehicle platform brings its own mounting points, interior geometry and packaging constraints, so a single design cannot simply be copied across. The brief covered both one-off cages for specialist vehicles, each requiring bespoke engineering, and cages for fleet vehicles, where consistency, repeatability and fit at installation mattered as much as the design itself. 

Universal Fabrications’ Role

We took responsibility for design and manufacture in-house, developing cage variants tailored to each vehicle’s layout and Babcock’s operational requirements. Parts were produced at our 40,000 sq ft Nuneaton facility where they were laser cut and punched, formed using brake presses then MIG & TIG welded by BS EN ISO 9606-1 qualified welders to fabricate the final assembly, all under our ISO 9001 quality system. For the fleet vehicles, we ensured each cage was built to the same standard and fitted the same way at installation. The cages themselves were formed of mild steel and powder coated to the customer’s specification.

Why It Mattered

For an organisation like Babcock supporting frontline services, reliability is non-negotiable. A cage that doesn’t fit, rattles or fails inspection takes a vehicle off the road. By designing for manufacture from the outset, we helped keep both specialist and fleet vehicles on programme, with a single supplier able to handle everything from one-off specialist builds to repeat fleet work. It’s the same approach we bring to our defence and specialist vehicle projects: getting the engineering right early so production runs smoothly later.

Have a vehicle conversion or security fabrication project? Call 02476 370272 or email email@universalfabrications.com.