Big Brother casts its eye over this year's V Festival

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Claims from inebriated festival goers that they spotted a UFO hovering near the festival site at this weekend's V Festival in Stafforshire may actually be more fact than fiction.

A 70cm-wide flying device took off and hovered over the site gathering surveillance information from its high-resolution still and colour video cameras and its infrared night vision capability.

It wasn't a scene from the latest sci-fi flick, but part of a scheme ran by the Staffordshire police to obtain still and video imagery using a remote control drone, or 'Spy Helicopter' that can be flown to a height of 120 metres to survey the festival crowds.

It was the first time police had used this technology at a music festival, and officers said that the remote controlled helicopter helped capture offenders at the festival site. By the time Sunday had arrived there had been 62 arrests at the festival, and over 100 cautions. 32 of the arrests made for possession of drugs.

Festival goers would have avoided the gaze of the drone if they had kept to the main area, as it was thought that flying it above the large crowds could be dangerous if the machine was to crash. However, the device was deployed to stalk the festival's car parks in order to catch criminals attempting to break into vehicles.

Police have indicated that this technology may become a regular occurrence at major events, and will be used to complement the CCTV cameras already in place at many UK festivals.

The drone is battery-operated, and takes photos using a 10 mega pixel still camera, digital video or low light and infrared units. The drone's four carbon-fibre rotors are so quiet that they can't be heard from higher than 50 metres away, and once the machine has reached 100 metres it can't be seen with the naked eye.

It can fly up to 500 metres, but restrictions from the Civil Aviation Authority has meant that its operating limit is set to just 120 metres, which is still high enough for the machine to appear invisible. Silent, and invisible, it can even be operated from well out of sight of the controller, who receives information via video goggles he or she wears, beamed directly back from the drone.

The machine has been in operation since May, and Merseyside police have been using two drones to police public order situations, prevent antisocial behaviour and as a means for covert surveillance.

There are worries that this technology could by considered an intrusion of privacy, and with little or no public consultation about the use of the machine, it could threaten our civil liberties. Speaking to The Guardian, Noel Sharky, an expert in robotics at Sheffield University said "We should find out whether the public wants this", and warns that the technology could be used for more draconian measures in the future.

At the moment, anyone can use this technology, and there is nothing to stop private security firms or photographers from using the drones, but MW Power, the company that distributes the technology in the UK, has said that it will only license the drones to customers from the military or emergency services.

These machines might soon become commonplace at major festivals, and with their apparent ability to spy on revellers while remaining undetected they could prove to be a very effective tool - but very Big Brother - for policing festivals.

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