Police have renewed warnings to drone owners to make sure they know the rules after a near miss with a helicopter near Newport yesterday.

Police were called to the area between Donnington, Edgmond and Newport shortly after 10.30am yesterday, after a helicopter pilot reported encountering a drone in their flightpath.

PC Lee Thomas from the Newport Safer Neighbourhood Team said “The helicopter pilot advised police that they were flying at an altitude of 1500 feet when the drone appeared in front of them a very short distance away”

“The maximum height that a drone can be flown at in the UK according to CAA rules is 400 feet and clearly, the consequences of what may have happened should the drone have been sucked into the helicopters engines or such like could have been extremely serious”.

“Thankfully on this occasion, the pilot was fortunate enough to see the drone in time and adjust their course to prevent a potential collision”.

Officers searched the area around where the incident had taken place but were unable to locate the drone or its owner.

The use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles to give them their proper name, is governed by rules issued by the Civil Aviation Authority. For personal use, no licence is required but operators must stick to a number of rules to ensure they comply with the law.