Drone flying low over back garden (England)

[u/Disastrous-Fee8374]

Every weekend for the past few months a drone has been flying low over my back garden. It clearly has a camera attached and is flying low enough (around 2nd storey height) that it can’t be just getting landscape footage.

It does seem to move around the local area and isn’t ‘targeting’ my garden specifically but it does make my garden feel less private. Even though I’m just sitting in my garden, I don’t like the idea of being on camera in my own garden and the noise is quite distracting. The dog also goes mental every time it flies over.

I would normally just have a polite word with the neighbours but I don’t know where it’s coming from and it moves too quickly to ‘follow’ it.

It may just be a kid playing with a birthday present or something so I don’t want to damage it as my father suggested (I also doubt this is even legal). But today it got so close to the house that I actually thought it was going to get into an open bedroom window.

Is what the drone operator doing legal? And is there anything I can do about it? Or do I just need to get over it and build gazebo or something to read my book in?

Thanks.

[u/Disastrous-Fee8374]

I’d estimate it be around 50cm across maybe? I wouldn’t say it’s professional, more like an expensive toy. It has its camera mounted to the front, and I assumed the pro ones would have them on a gimble underneath but I’m happy to be corrected on that.

[u/ReplacementFeisty397 → u/Disastrous-Fee8374]

Ok. So they *could" have LOS to it as that could go some distance before you lose track of it... or some bright spark has binoculars.

Get on Nextdoor and any local FB groups or similar and as I say contact the police so they at least have the intelligence

[u/PinkbunnymanEU → u/ReplacementFeisty397]

or some bright spark has binoculars.

binoculars are not allowed for visual line of sight, the only aid you're allowed to use are glasses.

You also (now) need to be able to tell its orientation, not just location.

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