Call to ban drones from Denbighshire public spaces

Drones should be banned from flying over all public spaces in Denbighshire, a councillor has said.

Councillor Arwel Roberts is calling on the council to designate parks and beaches as "exclusion zones".

He said he had been made aware of a growing number of the remote-controlled drones in use around Rhuddlan and Rhyl.

However, a professional cameraman said guidelines approved by the Civil Aviation Authority were already in place.

Mr Roberts said: "Technology is a marvellous thing but it seems that these flying machines hover over people's houses and gardens.

"The law states that they cannot be flown over built-up areas or within 50 metres of people you don't have control over."

The former head teacher said drones fitted with cameras could now be bought quite cheaply.

A notice of motion will be discussed by Denbighshire councillors

"I've noticed people are not happy within the town of Rhuddlan and parts of Rhyl, with the situation with drones going up in the sky, referring to the privacy of residents, and I thought, 'Why not?'," he added.

"Denbighshire could lead the way here by trying to stop the use of drones in public places like on the beaches and also in public parks."

He has put forward a notice of motion for the council to discuss on Tuesday.

He wants the ban to apply to people who are not authorised by the Civil Aviation Authority to operate drones, and who do not follow their guidelines.

Under the plans, he hopes officers would have the power to fine people breaching the exclusion zones.

Tregarth-based cameraman Nigel Roberts, who uses drones as part of his filming work, said he could " understand the concerns" but added the "guidelines are already there, we just need people to stick to them".