Amazon has become the first retailer to launch a drone delivery service in the UK.
The US retail giant has started to deliver parcels in Darlington, County Durham, as part of a trial for a wider rollout, meaning Amazon customers could soon have everyday items delivered directly into their gardens by one of the company’s drones.
Amazon says if you order something weighing under 5lb (2.2kg) – small electronics, beauty products, or linens – Amazon's MK30 drone will bring it to you within two hours. The service covers a 7.5-mile area around the company's fulfilment centre.
Amazon's drones use sensors to dodge obstacles like trampolines and washing lines, and its GPS tells it exactly where to release your parcel
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Amazon's fleet of drones can achieve this feat by using sensors to dodge obstacles, like trampolines and washing lines, while the built-in GPS tells it exactly where to release your parcel.
Rob Shield let Amazon use an Airbnb on his farm for the initial test flights. He told the BBC: "Initially it was a novelty, so we were ordering everything under the sun," he says. "Pens, paper, chocolates — anything to make it keep coming."
His parcels, roughly shoebox-sized, were dropped from about 12ft onto his front garden.
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Mr Shield explains: "Since then, you obviously start realising 'I actually need something today' like tape measures and stuff like that, you're always losing - we just order it and it comes."
It's taken Amazon over a decade to reach this point, but the company thinks customers are ready for it.
David Carbon, vice president of Amazon Prime Air, said: "The certainty is people have never told us they want their stuff slower. If you've got kids and you want fever medication, you want it. You don't want to drive to the store."
The drones can manage up to ten flights per hour, meaning around a hundred deliveries daily on weekdays. In the US, where the service already operates in five states, packages arrive in an average of 36 minutes.
The service has approval from the Civil Aviation Authority for a trial running until the end of the year.
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The service has approval from the Civil Aviation Authority for a trial running until the end of the year.
Amazon has also secured temporary protected airspace – essential for autonomous drone flights under current rules – with permission granted until mid-June, though an extension is expected.
Darlington Borough Council granted only temporary planning permission "to allow for testing of the drone delivery concept."
A spokesperson for the Darlington Borough Council told the BBC: "It's great to see Darlington at the forefront of such a pioneering scheme which highlights our borough as an area of innovation, development and investment."
Launching these drones has faced delays in the past. Amazon originally announced the service would start in 2024.
Mr Carbon said: "We wouldn't be doing it if it weren't commercially viable. It's a business, right? Absolutely, it can be commercially viable, and that's the goal that we're going after."