Police to be given powers to ground drones in UK crackdown

New drone bill will enforce registration for owners of drones weighing over 250g and introduce safety awareness courses for all users when published in 2018

The government is planning to create a raft of new police powers as part of a crackdown on the civilian use of drones, the Department for Transport has announced.

The new drone bill to be published in 2018 will allow police officers to order drone operators to ground their devices where necessary, alongside a series of new changes that will create a mandatory registry for larger unmanned aerial vehicles, such as those sold by Parrot or DJI.