The couple wrongly accused of the Gatwick drone chaos have spoken out about their treatment at the hands of Sussex Police, saying they feel "completely violated".

Paul Gait, 47, and Elaine Kirk, 54, criticised the way officers searched their home and revealed that they are receiving medical care after being arrested late on Friday evening.

Their statement came as Sussex Police faced growing criticism from ministers, who accused them of “messing up” their handling of the Gatwick drone incident, which caused travel misery for more than 140,000 passengers.

Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, chaired an hour-long call with ministers including Sajid Javid and David Lidington on Monday and the first thing that was discussed were the “mistakes” made by Sussex Police, a government source told the Telegraph.

The main criticism surrounded the police’s statement on Sunday that there was a "possibility" that there might never have been a drone.