After interference from an unknown drone shut down Gatwick airport for days, and a man flying a drone from the top of the Severn Bridge stopped people travelling between England and Wales, the UK police have been granted new powers in order to try and stop illegal use of drones.

After over 5,000 responses to a consultation that the government held on drone enforcement, the police will now be given powers to land, seize, and search drones, as well as an expanded use of technology to detect and repel drones in areas such as airports and prisons - although the statement does not say what these methods would be.

The exclusion zone around airports where drones are banned will also be expanded, and from November this year, drone operators will also be required by law to register any of the new drones they bought for 2019.

Over 5,000 people had their say in our #drones consultation, as a result we’re introducing new police powers and safety rules to tackle the misuse of #drones and improve safety: https://t.co/s77EJ5qEwM pic.twitter.com/LTr7AZMsN4 — Dept for Transport (@transportgovuk) January 8, 2019

The police will also be able to issue fixed-penalty notices of up to £100 for minor drone offences, to ensure "immediate and effective enforcement of vital rules." These could be for "failing to comply with a police officer when instructed to land a drone, or not showing their registration to operate a drone."

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said that "there is no question but that lessons have to be learned from what happened at Gatwick. Passengers have to be able to travel without fear of their trips being disrupted by malicious drone use. Airports must be prepared to deal with incidents of this type, and the police need the proper powers to deal with drone offences"

Whether or not these powers will be effective is up to some debate; while improving an airport's power to repel and stop drones would be beneficial, it's unclear how expanding the exclusion zone would stop events such as the Gatwick shutdown from happening again - bearing in mind that the drone was already illegally flying.