Shropshire drone complaints soaring says report
A drone being used to film the scene of a road traffic accident in Shropshire was one of 55 calls of complaint made to West Mercia Police last year.
British police forces have received almost 900 complaints about drones during 2015.
One of these included a call about a drone reported to be flying at the scene of a crash in Market Drayton in August 2015.
Logs from police in Shropshire show how the drones were also used to fly over a hunt protest in Shrewsbury and were spotted flying over a quarry near peregrine falcons in Bishop's Castle.
Shropshire residents' reports to police have also included complaints about drones flying over their homes and gardens. Other complaints include a drone owner threatened with violence for flying his drone in Shifnal in April 2015.
A report drawn up following a Freedom of Information request revealed West Mercia had the third most complaints, topped by Great Manchester Police with 90 complaints and Sussex with 76 calls.
The report added: "At the other end of the scale, both City of London Police and North Wales Police had no calls logged.
"In total, the data shows there were 860 calls to UK police about drones flying over residential properties but the tone of the calls reveal the public is concerned about drones being used in a range of ways.
"This includes concerns about invasion of privacy with people using drone-mounted cameras to look into their houses or appearing to film over schools and playgrounds; causing a general nuisance by flying too close to their home or garden; flying into flight paths; spying on properties in order to plan burglaries; hovering over prisons; and flying too high breaching height regulations."
Charles Kennelly, chief technology officer at Esri UK, which drew up the report, said: 'Geography is a powerful tool for visualising data, revealing new insights and supporting better decisions.
"With drones being so topical, we thought it would be interesting to see how many official complaints there were about drones in residential areas last year, and map what we found, which surprised us as it did not simply match the population density.
"The map reveals hotspots of drone usage emerging across the UK and helps users to understand how they are becoming a growing concern for the public.
"Drones offer many benefits but can also be perceived as a general nuisance, invading privacy or even conducting suspicious and potentially illegal behaviour."
