WE ARE hearing about Gatwick flight disruptions due to drones being in airspace at the airport which was considered to be a dangerous threat.

My question is that: if a drone is of a certain size and weight that could cause a serious threat to passengers on a flight either landing or taking off, how is it legal and possible to buy one?

Steadily they are becoming a nuisance in the wrong hands. Drones are regularly delivering drugs, mobile phones, etc, to prisons with a high success rate. I’ve observed them hovering over a nearby estate and wonder if they are casing the houses for potential burglary.

A friend who has a beautiful house and property in the countryside on the island saw a drone that was hovering overhead for a while. His two daughters of 14 and 16 were suntanning themselves topless. Concerned what the drone was up to, he got his rifle and shot it out of the sky. The drone immediately crashed to earth on his property and, guess what, a camera was on board filming them. He still has the drone and footage waiting for the concerned drone owner to turn up.

This is just one of the things that a drone in the wrong hands can be used for – an invasion of privacy. I hope that security at all airports, on seeing drones encroaching into their airspace with the potential to cause danger, shoot them out of the sky immediately and try to trace the registered owners. Then hit them with a huge fine and/or a custodial sentence.

I hope that the owner of the drone that was shot down on my friend's property doesn’t turn up to reclaim it. He wouldn’t get a nice welcome.

Paddy Sketcher

Isle of Wight