Heathrow drone: Government to consider new laws to tackle illegal UAV use, David Lidington says

Airports must also invest more in technology to counter threat, Cabinet Office minister says

(PA)

The government is to consider new laws to prevent the illegal use of drones after flights were disrupted at Heathrow airport.

David Lidington, Theresa May’s de-facto deputy, told ITV that “clearly, the government is looking at the law to see whether there are ways in which it could be strengthened”.

The Cabinet Office minister added: “What I think the airports themselves have to do is step up and do more of is investment in technology to both detect and then stop drones from flying.”

Flights from Heathrow, Europe’s busiest air hub, were brought to a halt for about an hour on Tuesday evening following reports of a drone sighting nearby.

It raised fears that the chaos that affected rival Gatwick last month – dashing the travel plans of tens of thousands of people – could be repeated on an even larger scale.

Mr Lidington appeared to be reiterating a pledge by the transport secretary to hand greater powers to police to tackle dangerous drone use.

“The Gatwick incident has reinforced the fact it is crucial our regulatory and enforcement must keep pace with rapid technological change,” Chris Grayling told the Commons on Tuesday.

Police launched a criminal investigation and the military were called in following the reports of a drone at Heathrow at about 5pm on Tuesday.

The drone was reportedly sighted northwest of the airport near the M25.

A witness said he saw very bright flashing red and green lights “for four or five minutes” while driving past.

Once flights were restored the airport said on Twitter: “Flights at Heathrow are operating normally. Our focus is always the safety of our passengers and colleagues and we apologise to those passengers whose journeys have been unfairly affected this evening.”

Additional reporting by Reuters