SURREY and Sussex Police has purchased four new state-of-the-art drones to protect the public and investigate crime.

The Aeryon SkyRangers will add to the existing drone which has been used to support policing operations at Gatwick since March 2014.

Also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the drones are designed to be used to safeguard people and to assist with the investigation of crime.

They are capable of operating during daylight and after dark, in high wind and heavy rain, and can reach speeds of about 30mph.

It comes after Surrey and Sussex Police were jointly awarded almost £250,000 - the equivalent of 11 new police constables’ starting salaries in Surrey - to fund the high-security devices.

The new equipment means the project is the largest of any force in the UK.

Assistant chief constable Steve Barry, head of Surrey and Sussex Police Operations, said: “We have invested significantly in training 38 operators to CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) accredited standard to give us every opportunity to use drones when appropriate to do so to critically assess the benefits.

“Our project, operating five drones, is by far the largest in the UK, and there are a number of forces around the country that are commencing drone trials and the information from their trials will be incorporated into our report.”

Trained officers in Surrey and Sussex have used the existing drone for multiple operations over the past two years, including missing person searches, protester responses, airport security and crash scene investigations.

The money has been granted from the Home Office through the Police Innovation Fund, which rewards creative, collaborative and cost-saving projects aimed at transforming policing.

A three-month operational trial will now commence to critically assess the benefits of employing drone technology within a wide range of policing functions with a view to enable efficiency savings, and to increase public and officer safety.

Assistant chief constable Barry added: “We have consulted extensively with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) and the Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC), both of whom are satisfied with the approach we have taken over privacy and data protection.

“Our drone operations will be overt, open and transparent, and we will use all outlets available to us to ensure the public are informed of our drone use.

“Finally, I must stress drones are not a replacement for the NPAS police helicopter; they are complementary to it.”