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Police are to use £5,000 drones to take aerial photos and video footage of crime scenes, road accidents and crowd trouble in Warwickshire.

Officers gave a demonstration of the technology at Warwickshire Police HQ in Leek Wootton yesterday ahead of a six-month trial which starts in January.

Two people on the ground will be responsible for piloting the drone using remote-controllers.

One will control the aircraft and its direction, while a second will operate the high definition camera equipment.

The 19kg drone has a flight time of around 20 minutes, a maximum speed of 49mph and can hover to 4,500 metres.

They will also be used by West Mercia Police.

Nav Malik, temporary assistant chief constable of West Mercia Police, said: “We believe small unmanned aircraft can bring a number of benefits to operational policing.

“Using drones could allow the police service to expand air operations in a cost effective way, helping to further protect communities from harm.

“In theory a drone should be able to help us search a large area quickly using aerial photography and thermal imaging equipment. This can be viewed from the ground to direct officers to a location faster.”

He added: “Whilst there are a lot of benefits to the use of drones, we are keen to reassure the public that public safety is of paramount importance at all times.”

The independent Trust, Integrity and Ethics Committee will scrutinise the use of drones prior to the start of the trial.

Drones are already used by police forces in Sussex and Surrey.

Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Ball said: “If the trial can establish value for money and the feedback from officers and the public is positive, then more widespread deployment could be considered.”