A drone carrying phones and drugs, caught flying towards Pentonville prison in London. Met Police

It turns out people are using drones for other crimes beyond spying on their neighbours.

Criminals are increasingly using drones to smuggle drugs and other banned items into prisons. In a bid to catch them, a new squad of police and prison officers has been set up.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Justice, there have been 35 arrests and 11 convictions to date of criminals "involved in drone activity."

The new squad will work closely with the prison service and national police to examine drones found in or around prisons, to try and work out who's trying to smuggle contraband into jails.

Criminals using drones in this way has become more of a "threat to prison security", the Ministry of Justice said.

Some examples of criminals involved in using drones illegally to date include Tomas Natalevicius and accomplice Dalius Zilinskas, who were sentenced in May to more than 10 years collectively for trying to smuggle cocaine, cannabis, and other contraband into several prisons.

Dean Rawley-Bell was jailed for four years and 8 months after trying to smuggle phones and drugs into Manchester prison.

And Renelle Carlisle was caught outside Risley prison, near Manchester, with a drone in his bag in order to smuggle in drugs.